


White Lion

by SarottiFlotti



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Altean Lance (Voltron), Altean Prince Lance (Voltron), Cheekmarks, Episode: s05e06 White Lion, Identity Struggles, M/M, Medic!Lance, Oriande (Voltron), Roadtrip, With some twists, duh - Freeform, follows original storyline, klance, s7 redo, s8 redo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-28
Updated: 2020-07-20
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:55:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 63,123
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24961180
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SarottiFlotti/pseuds/SarottiFlotti
Summary: Laughing in triumph, he ripped his helmet from his head and ruffled his hands over his face, finally scatching the itch. He hated being stuck in the helmets for too long.“Allura and I need to enter the white hole alo-" Lotor had started, but stopped suddenly, fixing Lance with wide eyes.Lance only tilted his head and scratched his cheeks.Allura, disturbed by Lotor's sudden stop, turned around as well and needed only a tick until her face fell and she gasped. "Lance!"Lance is part-altean and he has to cope with the new knowledge.
Relationships: Allura & Lance (Voltron), Keith & Lance (Voltron), Keith/Lance (Voltron)
Comments: 53
Kudos: 650





	1. Yay, I'm an Alien!

**Author's Note:**

> Well, I guess the fandom's kinda dead, BUT I'm not and here's a thing that was supposed to be a small thing, but... well, here we are.
> 
> I don't want to waste the story on my harddrive so I decided to share it with you :)
> 
> It's basically an AU-redo-thing where Lance's father is Altean and he has not only to cope with the new knowledge, but also with new feelings and tasks that arise. 
> 
> Enjoy, I guess :)

"Dad!!" Lance called and ran up to his father on wobbly legs.

He had just finished his first soccer match and wanted to turn to his mother on the bleachers, only to find a familiar face next to his mother's.

"Dad! Did you see my game?!" he shouted and sprang up into his father's arms, hugging the man as tightly as his five year old arms were able to.

The man laughed and nodded, setting Lance back down at the ground. "You were awesome."

"Did you see that goal I made? It was soooo difficult, because Tommy was in the way and-" he babbled, watching his father's face react to his story.

It was rare that his father visited them. He’d barely recognize him if he hadn’t visited last christmas.

His father usually called solely on his or his siblings birthdays and  _ maybe _ if he remembered any holidays like christmas. Marco didn't like him, never picked up the phone on his birthday and Lance knew that Veronica wasn't quite fond of him either. But Lance liked him quite a bit.

He was their father, was funny  _ and _ he had watched his match, how could one not like him?

Sure, his hair was grey, like grandma's was, but he had pretty blue eyes and dark skin, just like Lance.

Lance just wished he would be around some more.

:

Lance had no reason to feel queasy. He had a full six hours of sleep (what was more than the average four they worked on most of the time), opened a new can of face cream for his morning routine (he  _ loved _ opening new cans. There was no better feeling than emptying an old one and disturbing the smooth and creamy surface of a new one) and had actual  _ toast _ for breakfast that Hunk had created out of some weird stuff he didn't want to elaborate further. It looked like toast and it tasted like toast, he didn't need any information beyond that.

But even though, he couldn't help but feel like something bad was about to happen. Especially as Allura called them to the bridge and showed them a weird glowing rock.

"This magic rock is going to guide us to a magic planet?" Pidge asked, lightly scratching on the surface.

"It's a land known as Oriande," Lotor stated and leaned against the console in his back.

Coran only let out a laugh. "I'm afraid someone's been ruggling your wimble, Prince Lotor. Oriande is just an altean folktale. it doesn't actually exist."

"That's what I thought, Coran," Allura murmured. "But now, I have the feeling it's quite real."

Lance really wanted to space out of this conversation. Not that Altean alchemy was a boring concept, but… well, talking about it was boring.

Only that Lance couldn't really relax while being with Lotor in one room. That guy was suspicious as hell and Allura had kind of  _ like _ -liked him and that was by no means okay. He had to be wary, if no one else was.

"It is the birthplace of all Altean alchemy," Lotor explained. "The place where King Alfor learned the secrets that helped him create Voltron and where Allura will master those same secrets so that my ships may enter the quintessence field."

"And what makes you the authority on crazy altean nonsense?" Lance objected as seemingly no one else intended to. "Coran knows more magic made-up gobbledygook than anyone i've ever met."

"Thank you, Lance," Coran chirped and flashed him a thankful smile that he answered with an enthusiastic thumbs-up. "And I can assure you, King Alfor never mentioned anything to me about travelling to Oriande," Coran continued.

"In all likelihood, he kept it a secret from everyone. I have been researching Oriande for centuries, hoping to learn more about my altean ancestry-" Lotor started up again, but this time, Lance allowed his thoughts to wander.

He still had no clue how Lotor had seemingly everyone on the ship on his side, except of him and maybe Coran.

He just stood there, rambling something about whatever and everyone hung at his lips? Sorry, but Lance didn't buy it. 

Lotor was a slimy douche, the bastard breed of the devil himself and his concubine witch. And he had dumb hair that rivalled even Keith's horrendous mullet. And that's a real feat.

However, Lance was pulled back to reality, as Allura opened the star chart and fused the stone thing into it, pointing to a star system that suddenly blinked a cheery yellow.

"Wait a tick, that's the Patrulian Zone," Coran pointed out. "The Patrulian Zone is a mysterious part of space where ships enter and are never heard from again." He the turns to Allura, "Princess, that area has been deemed unsafe to navigate for ages."

_ That  _ definitely didn't sound good.

"The perfect place to hide a magical world."

The perfect place to die.

It was Pidge who voiced his thoughts. "Or to crash and die?"

"I don't think it's a great idea either," Lance objected and glanced around. Everyone looked as wary as he felt, but Allura had another idea.

"We will approach with caution. Prepare our course, Coran"

And what else were they supposed to do, other than listening to her direct order? And okay, Lance guessed they  _ had _ to find Oriande and they were already used to dangerous missions, but that didn't mean he couldn't object.

He only sighed and sat back into his seat when Allura opened the wormhole and they found themselves in a gigantic field of debris.

Broken ships and torn clumps of who knows what littered the space in front them. And obviously, no one knew why they had lost power in the first place.

They proceeded onwards, passing ships with broken hulls, destroyed fighters and even one circular satellite that looked suspiciously like the voyager sonde they had seen pictures of at the Garrison.

And right in the middle of the graveyard was a bright white pillar of light that seemed to hold the debris in a gravitational field. 

A white hole that, unlike the black holes that suck everything in, it shoots everything out along with a good bunch of radiation.

"The wise stand back from the fire, fools are burned on the pyre." Lotor suddenly murmured and shivers ran down Lance's spine like a bucket of cold water. "The mystic becomes one with the flame, the embers and he are the same."

Lance  _ knew _ these lines. Where had he heard them? "Is that, like a song you're working on? 'Cause it sucks," Lance commented with a queazy feeling in his stomach.

"It's a poem by an ancient Altean alchemist," Lotor explained. Aaaand that explained why Lance knew these lines. That jerk was so fixated on Oriande, he surely must have murmured them sometime.

"I discovered it carved next to a cave painting of a fiery sphere. I never realised that it describes the route to Oriande."

Well, so much for his theory. 

Rolling his eyes, he ignored his rolling stomach. Today was simply one of these weird days he sometimes had when everything felt wrong.

He had one as Sendak stole the castleship back on Arus, when Shiro vanished, when his brother Luis had that car crash and he had had weeks of anxiety when Keith left the team.

He  _ should _ object to proceeding further, but of what use would it be?

"We must go  _ in _ to that white hole," Lotor declared and Lance couldn't even  _ start _ on how that might be a bad idea.

"Wait, are you guys serious? We're navigating by cave poetry now?"

"What Hunk said!" Lance chimed, gripping his seat tighter. "Flying inside is screaming to be certain death!"

But instead of doing the  _ logical _ thing and flying back into safe space, Allura seemed to be as eager to get inside as Lotor was. "We're going to wormhole inside."

Resolute shock went through the entire bridge, but Allura insisted on using Voltron, because Voltron may be able to withstand the forces of the hole.

They proceeded as far with the ship as far as they were able to and formed Voltron.

Coran then formed a wormhole and through they went.

On the other side, the light of the white hole blended Lance. On the one side, he couldn't help but be fascinated. The white hole shone so bright, even he could feel the pure magic it emitted. 

Either magic, or the radiation was pulling at his guts and made his skin tingle. He settled on magic, because radiation definitely didn't sound too healthy.

To be certain, he ran a quick diagnosis on Red's hull, that came up without any fault. So, magic it was.

They had to use Voltron's full blaster power to sneak closer to the white light.

Just when the tingling on his face reached a point where he wanted to pull off his helmet to scratch at his cheeks, the white of the hole opened up to something that had the distinct shape of a  _ lion _ .

And that lion attacked them with a white beam. They tried to fight back, but the lion seemed to be made out of light itself.

“There's nothing to hit!!" Lance grunted in frustration, pulling back his controls. 

Suddenly Lotor's voice drifted out of the comms. " _ You need to get out of there!That thing is the guardian! It will only allow worthy Alteans through! _ "

Oh, thanks for the tip! Seriously, it's like Lance hadn't objected to the plan like, a thousand times before.

He quickly pulled back as Shiro gave the signal to go and they barely made it out of the light, being hit by one of the lion's beam. They got shaken through and Lance crashed into the debris, hitting his head on the console in front of him.

It barely hurt, but dented his helmet, pressing uncomfortably against his  _ still _ tingling face

He couldn't really complain though, Red had shut down the instant they got blasted apart by that guardian.

With a huff, he left his cockpit so they could regroup at the castle. 

He felt bad leaving Red behind, but it wouldn't be the first time they had to leave the lions and collect them at a later time, but it didn't stop him from worrying.

Especially since he still tingled overall and he felt vaguely more secure with Red's thick hull in between him and the radiation of the white hole.

When he touched down in the open airlock where everyone piled in, he waited until the decompression finished so he could pull off his helmet that- was stuck.

Groaning, he pulled at it, ignoring Pidge and Hunk's snickers. He just wanted to scratch at his face, was it too much to ask?

"Hey, anyone feeling weird too?" he asked, fiddling with the dented side.

"Weird how?" Hunk asked, trying to help him, but both quickly gave up when they noticed that it sat quite snug around his face.

"Tingles. You think the radiation-"

"The radiation can't influence us through the suits," Pidge interrupted him, "Now hurry up, the others are already gone."

Grumbling, he and Hunk gave up on getting his helmet off and began to walk to the bridge.

"You sure about the suits?"

"Yes, the radiation is not too different than what we usually have to fight, simply because we're in  _ space _ ," Pidge shrugged. "It's just a bit more concentrated. Don't worry, I ran scans and the suits should hold even more, they're built out of that extremely rare metal that absorbs the natural radiation-" she babbled and Lance tuned her out.

His face was so  _ itchy _ . He wanted his helmet off and take a nap. That day, no matter how good it had started seemed to turn out horrible. He pried his fingers under the not-dented side and tried to scratch his skin with minimal success.

"Maybe it's your new cream?" Hunk shrugged, bumping his shoulder against his. "You started a new can, right?"

"Yeah," he huffed, resuming his attempt at prying his helmet off. "But I want to get out of that either way."

"Allura only wanted to do a simple debrief, and we're not worthy enough or so, so I can help you later? Maybe butter you up some?"

"That would be great," Lance whined. "I won't even complain how awful butter is for my skin, I just want to get it off!"

Hunk and Pidge snickered and teased him some more until they entered the bridge where everyone was already waiting for them.

"If we don't get the castle running within the next quintant, we'll be out of air," Coran said as they entered.

Huffing, Lance threw an annoyed glance to Lotor. "Maybe we can decrease our breathers by one."

That wouldn't settle his struggles with his helmet or face, but would increase his mood tenfold. 

"Uh, what's up with your face?" Hunk asked and indeed, just now, Lance noticed some weirdly glowing marks on Lotor's cheekbones. They were quite similar to Altean marks, but he guessed Lotor  _ was _ half-altean.

It didn't explain the glowing, but well.

"Yeah," Pidge chimed in, "And if that's the home of Altean alchemy why can't Voltron get in?"

Lotor sighed. "I'm sorry to put us in this position, but I think I know the answer. Look at Allura."

Everyone turned around and watched Allura pull her helmet off, showing glowing cheek marks as well.

Great, now they wore matching marks.

Grunting, he tried once more to pull his own helmet off. If he could just pry it a bit further across his jaw, he could slip out...

"It's called the Mark of the Chosen," Lotor explained and raked his gaze over Allura who had stepped closer. Lance mocked his speaking and resumed to push his dented helmet over his jaw.

"They are mentioned in some Oriande legends. They indicate those worthy of entering the realm."

Great. Now  _ Lotor _ was  _ worthy _ of entering Oriande an Coran obviously not. It was  _ unfair _ that that dick was about to gain knowledge beyond any quiznacking imagination.

And his jaw hurt and felt like it was bleeding, but he eventually managed to tilt his jaw just right to gain the last few millimetres necessary to plopp his damn helmet off.

Laughing in triumph, he ripped it from his head and ruffled his hands over his face, finally quenching the tingling and proceeding to ruffle his hair He hated being stuck in the helmets too long.

“Allura and I need to enter the white hole alo-" Lotor had started, but stopped suddenly, fixing Lance with wide eyes.

Lance only cocked head and scratched his itching cheek.

Allura, disturbed by Lotor's sudden stop, turned around as well and needed only a tick until her face fell and she gasped. "Lance!"

That was the time the rest of the team turned around as well and everyone reacted quite the same: shock.

"What?! Is something with my face?" Lance screeched and pawed at his head.

"Lance, you're  _ Altean _ ?!" Allura gasped and stepped closer, grabbing his face and turning it to the side.

At any other moment, he would have swooned with Allura being so close, but his mind was only blank.

He had expected something like an ugly rash or something, but… what?

"Eh, no?"

"Well, my boy, it seems, you have at least some Altean blood in you," Coran grinned at him. "Enough so that Oriande deems you worthy enough."

Glancing around the room, he ripped out of Allura's grip and dashed to the next reflecting surface, the top of one of the deactivated consoles. An indeed, there was his face, but there were small, sickle-shaped marks on his cheekbones, quite similar to Coran and Allura's, only a light baby-blue. They were glowing just like Allura's and it _freaked_ _him out._

"I'm not Altean!!" He argued and scratched the the glowing marks. The tingling kind of decreased, but as soon as his nails scratched the surface of the blue marks, it actually  _ hurt _ .

"That's crazy!" Pidge gasped and pulled at his shoulders, turning him around to look at the marks herself. "That's the proof that Aliens were on earth even  _ before _ Keith's mom!!"

"It seems like some Altean's searched refugee on earth and founded families on their own," Coran said and stepped closer as well, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You may be the descendent of one of those."

"Incredible," Lotor commented and Allura flashed him a bright grin.

"The genes must have been dormant, lying in wait for generations. The closeness to Oriande must have awoken them."

"Anyway," Lotor interrupted them. "We  _ must _ enter the wormhole and find Oriande, Princess."

"Right," Allura nodded. "It seems only the three of us will be able to pass the gate."

"Wait, wait,  _ stop _ !" Lance murmured, rubbing his cheek. "I'm part Altean?"

How did the rest of the team not freak out about that? He felt like his entire world had shifted and his breathing was speeding up. He had a major freakout and they were discussing the logistics of travelling through the white hole? As if that was their only problem.

"Lance, do you want to come with us?" Allura's voice managed to cut through the static in his ears.

"Of course not!!" he screeched. 

"Alright," Lotor shrugged and guided the Princess out of the room, Coran and Shiro following them.

"Buddy?" Hunk placed his hand on Lance's shoulder. He barely managed to turn to him, still fixing the door. "You okay?"

"No?" he whined, still rubbing his cheek.

:

He should have gone with Allura and Lotor.

Sure, him being part-altean was…. something. But now, Allura was alone with Lotor on a crazy magical quest with a pretty high chance of instant death.

And then, there was the fact that  _ he _ was part-altean. And  _ no one _ was bothered by that? 

In the past hour that Pidge, Coran and Hunk tried to get the systems back online, he had questioned his entire life about three times and his life choices about six times.

Who of his parents carried the Altean genes? His mother was quite unlikely she always told them  _ tons _ of stories of their ancestors.

His father though, was a different story. He barely knew the man himself, barely showed up or called. Over the years, the frustration had turned into resignation with a bitter aftertaste. If anyone of his family had secrets then it was that man. Did he know that he was part alien? Was that the reason he kept his distance? But why did he get five children then? One might pass as an accident, but  _ five _ ? That went a bit overboard.

At least, he could understand Keith now. When they found out he was part Galra, he had looked pale and sick and evaded everyone's gaze. Lance completely understood the world changing sickness. Half the time he sat, leaning against the console, he wanted to throw up, take a nap and wake up when everything was back to being normal.

Sighing, Lance resumed to fiddling with his boot. He didn't know what to do. Neither with his seemingly alien heritage, nor with Allura and her  _ connaissance _ with Prince Dick, slimy Duke of Assholeington.

"He, buddy?"

Shiro suddenly stood in front of him, holding his hand out for Lance to take. "Let's talk

for a sec in the hall, 'kay?"

"'kay," he murmured and let himself be hauled from the ground.

They exited the room and Lance slumped against the wall, bonking his face against the cool metal. "It's okay, Shiro, you don't need to lecture me."

"I wasn't going to?"

Raising a brow, Lance fixed him with a stare.

"Alright, maybe a bit," he relented and Lance huffed a laugh. "Listen, I'm going to tell you the same I told Keith, back when we found out that he was Galra."

For that, he gripped Lance's shoulder and turned him around, staring intently in his eyes. It was kind of creepy, but showed Lance that Shiro was honest. 

"It doesn't change  _ anything _ . You're still Lance, the one that makes us laugh and annoys the hell out of us, you're the Red Paladin and my right hand. You're our sharpshooter and I wouldn't change you, I  _ trust _ you, Altean or not, so don't let some genes define who you are."

There was a pause where the words trickled into his brain. 

And he decided: Shiro was right. What if some long dead ancestor of his was Altean? Only because he now had marks, he was still Lance, a boy from Cuba, the youngest of the McClain family. The troublemaker. The sharpshooter. Red Paladin.

Being altean doesn't need to be a bad thing. Maybe he was now on Allura's radar?

Cracking a grin, a small one, but still a grin, he cocked his head. "Keith 'makes you laugh'? I mean, I get the annoying part, but-" he started and stopped when Shiro huffed out a laugh.

"Okay, I changed some details, happy?"

"I feel special," he swooned and felt his grin widen when Shiro laughed. Their leader laughed way too seldomly. 

They then hugged and Shiro patted his shoulder. They were about to reenter the bay, when Shiro held him back.

"Lance, can I ask you something?"

"Sure?"

"Do you… do you remember, on Olkarion, how you asked me about talking to you from inside Voltron?"

"Yeah?"

"What happened there? I can't remember any of it."

That one really had been strange and Lance had  _ waited _ on bringing it up again. He was glad Shiro was the one to instigate this time. Especially after the last time Lance mentioned that occurrence.

So, Lance closed his eyes and tried to get the memory right.

"We were all in some kind of mystical Voltron mindspace," he tried to explain. "You were yelling something, but I couldn't hear you. Are you okay? I feel like you're not okay."

Shiro sighed and averted his gaze. "I don't know… my head- I'm just…" He sighed again, clearly struggling to express himself clearly. 

Eventually, he settled on "I'm feeling confused. It's like…" Shiro interrupted himself again and glanced around the dark hallway. "Like I'm not myself," he murmured.

Lance understood the feeling. Really, he did, but Shiro looked way more haunted than Lance felt. The dark bags under his eyes and his slightly crouched stance were unsettling.

He wanted to comfort him the same he had just done so, but he didn't know how.

"It's probably just lack of oxygen," he shrugged, knowing fully well that it was most likely not. "You should sit down. We'll get through this."

They then settled on the floor, letting the others tinker in peace. They didn't talk much, but the presence of the other was comforting enough.

:

The next… days were equally relaxing and exhilarating.

He had had fun in Central Command. He even forgot the worries concerning his newly discovered heritage.

Then the Omega Shield happened and… yeah, let's not talk about that one.

However, with Zarkon gone and Lotor busy, they finally had some few days off, Pidge was hacking her way through the entire Base and they even had a funny evening playing the altean equivalent to Dungeons and Dragons. As Hunk tried to learn about galran culture, Lance wanted to learn about his own heritage. But Allura and Coran were both busy with  _ Lotor _ , so Lance struggled through the Altean program to learn the language all on his own.

It was another relaxing morning, when Lance eventually pulled his nerves together and walked to the med bay where Coran was running some diagnostics.

"Hey, number four," Coran greeted him. "You need some help? Got any boochies?"

"Eh, no?" Lance shook his head. "I think not?"

"Aw, too bad."

"Anyway," he sighed, needing to get to the point so he won't chicken out. "I was wondering whether we could do… a test?"

Contrary to Pidge and Coran's guess, the Altean marks on his cheeks hadn't vanished about losing contact to Oriande, they were still a baby-blue mark directly in the lower corner of his eyes.

"I was wondering how much… altean is in me?"

"Oh," Coran chimed and turned to him with a broad grin. "That is quite a good question. I was wondering myself, you know? But I didn't want to upset you."

"It's okay," Lance flashed him a crooked grin, but buried his hands in the deep corners of his jacket, fiddling with the pictures waiting there. "I'm kinda getting used to the marks. Can you run a quick scan?"

"Of course!"

Lance then stepped into one of the pods and Coran quickly ran through the controls. The scan, like always, didn't do anything to him, so he waited until Coran told him to step out again.

Lance then stepped up to Coran onto the platform with the console and then waited until the older man was finished with pressing random buttons.

"Alright, here are your genetics- oh."

"What 'oh'? Is something wrong? Am I sick?" he screeched, stepping closer, but altean was still gibberish for him.

"No," Coran simply murmured, pressing a few more buttons, drawing up a chart with two equally high pillars. "It's just I didn't expect that outcome.

"Lance, you're half human and half altean."

This time, his heart stopped. Well, not really, but it definitely felt like that. Time stopped for a few moments where he simply stared at the two pillars that definitely stood for each race. Both were equally high. Half and half.

Again, all the nausea and uncertainties were back. 

"I assume your father was altean?" Coran eventually asked.

Lance mind was still stuck somewhere between  _ what _ and  _ how _ , so he only managed a very eloquent "Huh?"

"You rarely mention your father, Lance, you said he wasn't around much? Maybe because of this?"

_ That _ was another reason why you should never underestimate Coran. Lance didn't think he listened when Lance told him about his family, way in the beginning of their small adventure.

"I… I guess?"

The picture in his pocket felt heavy. There wasn't only his father, but also an Alien, an Altean.

"That's quite curious. I wonder how he managed to survive on earth all those years?" Coran was rambling, but Lance barely listened.

:

"Mom?" 

Lance was fourteen, sitting at their kitchen table, fiddling with his phone. He just got off the line with his father who had called to invite him to go  _ hunting trip _ of all things.

"Yes, sweety?"

"Why do the others hate dad?"

His mother stopped at wiping the counter, staring at the speckled top.

"They don't  _ hate _ him," she said. "They are disappointed. There's a difference."

"Why are they disappointed?" Lance asked. He always feared bringing up their father with his siblings. All four of them got annoyed easily and tried to keep him from searching any contact with their father.

It was annoying on his part, too.

His mother fixed him with a small and sad smile. "They want him around more, but he can't, so they are disappointed. And disappointment often turns into resentment and anger."

"But Dad's trying everything he can. Can't they see that he would be here if he  _ could _ ?"

"How do you know that?"

"Well, his eyes are always sad when he's here and you are missing him dearly. And I just… I know it," he shrugged, staring at the dark screen of the phone. 

His mother was silent until she eventually rounded the counter and drew Lance in a tight hug. "And that's why you have such a great heart. Even though you're going to bring me into an early grave, you're so incredibly understanding. You need to take good care of your heart, sweety."

Lance barely understood why his mother said that, but she sounded sad, so he made a little joke about his heart being made of steel and not mushy feely stuff.

Then, his mother laughed and went back to doing chores, Lance only fleeing from her side when Luis tumbled down the stairs screeching murder because Lance dyed his white shirts pink with a red sock in the washing machine.

It was a few days later as Lance packed his bag with fresh clothes his mother had previously laid out for him, when Luis gently knocked on his door frame. Very confused, because  _ no one _ in this house ever knocked, he turned to his brother.

"Mom told me you're packing?"

"Yeah? Dad wants to take me on a hunting trip," Lance flashed him a bright smile. He never saw his father for more than a few hours tops and was really looking forward to spend an entire weekend with him. Three days of undivided attention. 

"But  _ hunting _ ?" Luis sounded weird.

"Yeah," Lance shrugged turning back to his bag, squeezing another pair of boxers into a far corner. "I'm not too thrilled about  _ that _ , but it's Dad, and I want to get to know him better."

To be honest, when Lance accepted, he hadn't thought of the actual hunting part, too eager to meet his father in a not too formal setting. And he liked camping.

So it was only a few hours later, when the eager thrill and joy of the upcoming weekend faded, did he realize the actual  _ reason _ for the trip. Hunting involved killing something and eating it afterwards. He just hoped his father wouldn't pressure him into anything he didn't want.

He knew Bambi and he didn't want to be the jerk that killed the mother.

However, a weekend with his father was a weekend with his father, right?

"You don't have to go, you know? Neither Marko, nor I or Rachel went, when he came asking," Luis said.

That perked Lance's interest. "He asked you too?"

"It seems to be some kind of family tradition on Dad's side. Taking the kids on the fourteenth birthday into the wild," he shrugged. 

That was a new info and made everything even  _ better _ . A cool family tradition he didn't even know of? That was awesome! He loved to try new things, family traditions, like when they always took a walk after dinner so Santa (aka their mother) could hide the presents under their christmas tree on Christmas Eve, and he loved his family (even though he knew only half of it), so taking part in a  _ new family tradition _ was like Christmas and Easter came together to form a giant holiday.

His joy must have shown, because Luis only sighed and slumped against the doorframe. "I only encouraged you further, didn't I?"

"Hell yeah!!" he laughed and quickly shut his bag, heaving it to the ground so he could sit on his bed. "Why didn't you go?"

Luis only shrugged and sat down next to Lance on the bed. Even though Luis was several years older and already in college, he often visited. Lance often missed him, so it was always nice when they could talk eye to eye.

"I guess I was angry? Dad never really cared to be here, so why should I bother to be with him too?"

"Do you know  _ why _ he's never around?" Their mother always evaded this topic.

"No?"

"Then how do you know he never bothered?"

Silence stretched between the two brothers until Luis sighed with a small smile. "It doesn't matter, really. I just want you to be…” he stopped, placing his hand on Lance’s arm. “Just be careful, Lance, okay? Dad has the habit to disappoint. I don’t want you to be hurt.”

It was nice of him, really. And weirdly serious. 

“Ooooh,” Lance shrugged, trying to lighten the mood. “I’m used to being disappointed. Mama wanted to make some Burgers for dinner, but you came over and we get Paella, so-” he got interrupted when Luis grabbed him into a headlock and only relented when Rachel separated them, drawn to Lance’s room by the commotion of screaming and laughing.

They went down to dinner, when Luis held him back again. Throwing a curious glance over his shoulder, he found the serious expression back on his brother’s face. “Lance, just be careful anyway, okay?”

“‘kay!” Lance saluted and raced down the stairs, silently wondering why Luis was so concerned.

The next morning came and Lance was way too giddy. Not that he wasn’t often giddy, they still had the suspicion of him having a light form of ADHD, but this morning came with his father, greeting him at the kitchen counter, next to their mother.

“Morning!” he chirped and drew his father into a hug. “I’m ready!!”

His father laughed, his melodious voice echoing around the room. He had barely aged since the time he had last seen him. His darker skin was just as wrinkled as the last time, the long, grey hair pulled back into a small ponytail and beard kept to a light stubble. 

Alfonso Sanchez lived with them in Cuba, owning a small surf shop closer to the beach. Even though their mother had moved to Cuba, only because of their father, they barely saw him.

However, one more reason why he cherished the invitation to join him on a hunting trip. His father took the time to close his shop and organized some rad camping/hunting (Lance still wanted to evade the actual hunting-part) stuff, only for him and Lance. That was a super considerate birthday-present, in Lance’s books.

The Cuban background gave him some sort of weird accent, neither could quite place. That accent now greeted him with joy.

How the others didn’t like their father was beyond him.

“Lance, my boy, how are you?”

“Super excited!” Lance laughed. “When are we going?”

“Eager, are we?” he smiled and ruffled his hair. “We’re grabbing some breakfast here and will be off afterwards.”

“Awesome.”

Breakfast was… tense. As always when their father joined them. Lance tried to lighten the mood with jokes and his parents even responded with smiles, but his siblings weren’t really in the mood.

“I’m sorry about the others,” Lace sighed when they eventually drove off.

“Don’t be,” his father shrugged. “They are mad and within reason. It’s my fault, really.”

“It’s not. You’re trying, right? They shouldn’t be mad because of something you can’t control.”

The older man was silent, deep in thoughts as they drove through the small town Lance lived in. “You’re too forgiving, Lance,” his father said, but wore a soft smile. “You remind me too much of myself, sometimes.”

:

They drove for the majority of the day. Most of the time they chatted, and Lance quickly found out that they indeed  _ were _ quite similar. He obviously got his chatty and mischievous side from him, they never ran out of topics to discuss and laughed about Lance’s stories from school. He didn’t even scold him for getting detention! Sure, it was weird, because he didn’t seem to grasp the concept of detention in the first place. He asked so much about the punishment that Lance, in the end of the whole discussion, didn’t even know  _ why _ they gave out detention in the first place as well.

The hours flew by, so Lance was quite surprised when they parked the car in a small, empty parking lot in the middle of the woods.

“Are you ready?” his father flashed him an excited grin.

“About that,” Lance started, averting his gaze. It was better, he started the actual trip with honesty. “I’m not…  _ overly  _ confident about killing.”

Throwing him an uncertain glance, expecting disappointment or anger, he found a fondness in the man’s face. “It’s okay. Really. I wanted to surprise you when we set up our tents, but I guess now is as good of a time anyway.

“I chose this forest specifically for our trip. Do you know why?”

Confused, Lance shook his head. 

“I heard a beast was roaming these woods.”

“A beast?”

“Yes. We’re not hunting any deers or rabbits. We’re hunting the Wobblegoozle.”

...The what?

“The Wobblegoozle is a beast with enormous horns, teeth as sharp as a knife and skin as hard as stone. It is said that it’s an ancient god, once the lord of these lands, but now feral and dangerous. Not many survive seeing him, but that’s the reason why we need to hunt him down. We may not even find him, but we’re not going to hurt anything innocent.”

That… was… actually quite cool.

Not that Lance really believed in cryptids (Except of mermaids. Really, the oceans are so deep and unexplored, many fish races still undiscovered, mermaids are completely reasonable). He didn’t think Bigfoot, the Yeti or fae or whatever existed.

And he was  _ fourteen _ , he knew parents weren’t perfect. So, the Wobblegoozle was most likely just a pretense.

So Lance decided to play along. “Is it really dangerous?”

“Very.”

“I hope we don’t die then,” Lance smiled and shared a meaningful gance with his father.

They quickly piled their bags from the car into their arms and hiked through the forest for another hour or so until they reached a clearing and Alfonso decided to set up camp. His father had bought a tent that was big enough to house both of them and they joked around while they pitched up the tent and made a small pile for a campfire in the evening.

By the time everything was set, it was already time for dinner and his father promised that they’d start their hunt early the next morning. Only when Lance was curled on the small air mattress, he realized how strange the day had been.

Strange, but nice. It felt as if he knew his father for years on a regular basis, not only the sporadic call on a birthday or whenever he pleased.

They had so many things in common, it was kind of creepy. Where his mom, Luis, Veronica and Rachel were quite serious (and a pain in the ass), Lance and Marco often fell out of line. Their mischievous streak always brought them trouble. It obviously came from their father. 

The skincare routine he often shared with Rachel seemed to originate from the Cuban as well, judging by the various amounts of creams and pastes Alfonso brought with him.

It was really weird to see habits he himself had, reflected in his father. 

But not only the personality traits. Even though he had his mother’s pointy nose, his bright blue eyes and sharp jawline definitely came from the man lightly snoring next to him.

Lance knew he’d enjoy the rest of the trip if the first day was anything to go by. Lance had really enjoyed himself today.

:

“Did you ever use a gun?”

“What? No?”

After an early breakfast, Alfonso had grabbed one of the bags they still had to unpack and vanished into the forest with him. He quickly taught him how to read different tracks and even pointed out a small hideout of a fox.

They had made a dash when the fox came barreling out of the hole, hissing and spitting in anger. It was the most fun Lance had had in awhile. That was until his father asked that question.

“Do you wanna learn?”

“Why?”

His father shrugged. “We’re hunting a beast, right? You need to know how to use a gun. And maybe, if you want to, you can keep it, to protect your mother and siblings.”

“You would give a gun to a hyperactive child?” Maybe his father wasn’t ever around because he was bonkers?

“You’re fourteen now, Lance. You’re hardly a child anymore.” his father placed a hand on his shoulder and looked directly into his eyes. “Where I am from, you’ve entered adulthood with your fourteenth birthday. And you’re just like I am. Even though you always joke, you know when to pick a fight and when you need to be reasonable, right? You value life.”

It indeed was kind of creepy how easily his father had figured him out. And he treated him like an adult. That was definitely a plus.

“I have no doubt you will be responsible with anything I give you. So? You wanna learn?”

Sure, Lance could have easily declined. But he trusted his father, so he simply shrugged. “Do you even have a gun with you?”

Alfonso smiled and sat down the still untouched bag, ruffling around the inside. “Just don’t tell your mother. She’d throw a fit.” 

Lance would have swooned, he had a secret with his  _ father _ , his  _ mother _ couldn’t know, but his father pulled out a… toy.

“A toy?”

His father laughed. “It’s no toy.” With this, he raised his hand, fixed something in the distance and pulled the trigger. There was barely a whisp, but about a hundred feet away, the bark of tree exploded, apart of the bark blasted clearly off.

“ _ Wow _ !!”

“Cool, right?” Alfonso laughed and playfully blowed over the barrel.

“More than that!” Lance gushed, “Where did you get a weapon like that?! Only the Garrison has blasters!”

His father smiled at him. “I built it, I was a scientist once, you know? I picked up some stuff here and there. You want to give it a try?”

Every doubt he had had, directly flew out of the window. His father seemed to be a crazy scientist, who had retired into a comfy surf shop in Cuba. And he wanted to teach Lance shooting with a futuristic blaster? Hell yeah, that seemed like something he always dreamed of, without ever know  _ that _ he dreamed of it.

And his mom couldn’t forbid it.

“Be careful, my boy.” Lance eagerly took the gun. It was lighter than he had imagined, and obviously easy to trigger, because he nearly shot off his brows as he turned it over.

His father fussed about him, and quickly pointed the barrel away from anything important.

“Okay, first of all some ground rules!” he called. “One: never point at something you don’t want to shoot. Two: That’s the safety catch. Always have it up, except if you want to shoot.” Alfonso pointed to a small switch at the side, easily in reach for his thumb.

“‘kay. Sorry.”

With a sigh, his father stepped back again. “It’s okay, that’s why we’re here, right?”

Lance flashed him a grin and pointed the gun obediently to the ground.

“Alright, let’s choose a target, how about that pine cone over there?” the older man asked, gesturing to a nearby pine tree. On one of the lower branches hung a cone in perfect position.

Lance used the chance to have a better look at the gun in his hands. It had a slim build, the… gun-part a but bulkier in the back than the front and kind of oval. It sported a simple, white design with red decorations on the side. The handle fit perfectly in his hand, the trigger barely noticeable along the black mantling of the handle. It was incredibly lightweight, nothing like the guns that shot bullets.

“Shooting is easy if you keep track of a few things,” his father continued and Lance tried to pay attention. “Fix your target along the lines of the visor, here,” he pointed to a small nub on the center, right above the barrel. “Keep both eyes open and squeeze, don’t pull.”

“That’s it?”

“Yeah, pretty easy. You have to practise though.”

Okay, it really sounded easy enough. He fixed the pine cone in the distance and raised the gun, holding it with both hands like he had seen in movies. Aligning the nub with the cone, he pulled the trigger- and missed.

An exploding bark in the distance showed him that he hadn’t been even close.

Groaning, he tried again. This time, his father stepped close behind his back. steadying Lance’s elbow and adjusting Lance’s left hand a bit.

“Try to calm your breathing,” he advised. “Shoot when you breath out. Hold it steady. Squeeze, don’t pull.”

Trying to follow, Lance breathed in and out a few times and  _ squeezed _ . He still missed, but it wasn’t too far off.

“Awesome,” his dad prided and stepped away. “Try again.”

He tried to adjust his stance to be more comfortable, shifted his weight to his right leg and fixed the cone again. He breathed one, two times and squeezed again. He missed again.

Noticing that the last two shots had been a bit too high, he tilted the handle a bit, without letting the cone out of his line. Squeezing the trigger again, he finally hit the mark.

The cone exploded into a million smoking pieces.

With a whoop, he turned to his father who watched him with surprise in his eyes. “Wow, that was  _ good _ ,” he only whistled. 

Lance beamed with pride and fixed the next target, a little fungus resting on the corpse of a fallen tree. It was a bit smaller and a bit farther away, but Lance was confident, he could hit it. Trying to remember how he had hit the cone, he tilted the handle, breathed out and squeezed again. He missed the first shot, but the second hit it’s mark as well.

At this, his father  _ giggled _ . “Oh my, you got talent, boy! You would have been quite helpful, back in the day.”

Without knowing what his father meant, Lance chose one or two more marks. He missed often, of course. Especially as he chose one pebble a bit too far away. After an hour of exercising, his father took the gun back again for safekeeping and called him ‘sharpshooter’.

They ate a few sandwiches for lunch and his father insisted that they continued their hunt. They found nothing, but joked while they walked and told each other weird stories. His dad tried to tell him jokes, but neither of them were overly funny. Just how they were supposed to be. By the end of the day when they returned to their camp, Lance was sad that their trip was about to end.

The next morning, they would eat a light breakfast and then return Lance back home.

However, Lance tried not to think too much about the next day, wanting to enjoy a few more hours, but during the whole dinner, his father complained about a missed chance to hunt the Wobblegooze.

Huffing, Lance placed the bowl of his leftover stew to the side and hugged his knees. “What’s the Wobblegoozle anyway? You said it was the Lord of these lands?”

“Of course!” his father exclaimed, a bit too eager. “I have only seen pictures so far, but my grandfather swore he had seen it once in person. When I was little, I would often go into the woods with C- a friend of mine and hunt for it. We even found a very promising trace once, but it turned out to be a boring Yorlnak.” He rolled his eyes at that, as if it was obvious what a Yorlnak was.

“Speaking of!” he grinned at him. “What do you want to do, once you’re finished with school?”

“Pilot,” Lance instantly answered. “Fighter pilot at the Garrison. Veronica is learning for Communications, but I wanna fly through the stars.”

“That’s awesome. When I was your age, I wanted to be a magician,” Alfonso laughed, “But your dream seems to be more reasonable. I wish you the best of luck, my boy.”

Lance smiled and stared back into the fire. “Thanks. Where did you grow up?” 

Alfonso was silent for about a minute and Lance thought his father didn’t want to answer, but eventually, his soft voice broke through the night. 

“I’m from a country very far away.”

“You’re not Cuban?” Lance asked. Turning to him, he watched his father closely. This was a new information, he had always thought he was Cuban.

“No, not really,” his father smiled, but it was a sad smile. “I grew up with oceans similar to Cuba though. That’s one of the reasons I’m living here now.

“There weren’t many forests, but oceans as deep as space, grass as green as emeralds. We were happy.”

His father stopped, contemplating what to say next. Lance could see the emotions crossing over his facial structures. Sadness was the most prominent, then came hope, but was quickly replaced with angst. Why was his father scared?

“I’m…” he started, but his expression quickly changed to resentment. “It doesn’t matter. I can’t go back.”

“Why not?”

“That’s not important, Lance. Just know that you’re originating from a country of utmost beauty.”

His father was an enigma. He had many secrets, that was certain. A past as dark as the sky above. Lance didn’t know much, but his imagination ran wild. His father could build and shoot blasters, he was a scientist, but now owned a surf shop in Cuba. And he was forbidden to return to his home.

Maybe he was a spy? A governmental refugee? Maybe he had worked for the Garrison and got… excommunicated? That was not the right word, but it fit.

And his father was sad, most likely regretting several choices he had made.

“Dad?”

His father turned a questioning gaze to him. He looked so sad. “The trip was the most amazing birthday present. Thank you.”

The sadness instantly turned to joy and his eyes turned glassy. “Come here,” he sniffed and held out his arms.

With a grin, Lance quickly jumped into his arms and hugged his father tightly. They hugged for a few seconds when Lance drew back again, but stayed close. “Dad, can I take a picture of us?”

“Of course, where do you have your mobile?”

“Wait a sec,” Lance grinned and dashed to their tent where his bag sat. Pulling the device out of the inner depths, he quickly ran back, plopping back down right next to the man. “Say cheese!”

“Why cheese?” his father asked, obviously very confused.

“Oh, Veronic explained that to me! It’s because of the ‘ee’ sound that makes you grin prettily,” he laughed, “But it doesn’t work for Marco.”

His father huffed out a laugh and drew Lance tighter, his arm around Lance’s shoulder. Readying his phone, Lance quickly took a selfie, smiling at the picture.

:

His father had indeed let him have the blaster. When he gave it to him, he quickly explained that Lance wouldn’t have to charge it, because it was able to generate its own energy. However, he stressed that it was important that no one knew about it’s existence. It was solely for self-defense.

He didn’t need to remind him.

However, Lance barely had a chance to actually keep it. His father had dropped him off Sunday evening and after a heartfelt goodbye, Lance slept like a baby, the blaster hidden deep in his drawer with his boxers. A bit cliché, he knew that, but he needed time to build the most awesome hiding place.

School on monday was as boring as ever, but when he came home and wanted to drop his things in his room, he stopped dead, finding Veronica in his room, holding the blaster. Dread filled his stomach.

“Veronica? You’re home? What are you doing?”

“I’m confiscating the blaster,” she stated and put the blaster into a special case.

Gulping, he watched the Blaster vanish in the case. “W… Why? It’s… just a toy?”

“Lance, we both know that it’s not. Father gave it to you and it’s more than dangerous. You’re only fourteen and a blaster, in the hands of a child-”

“I’m  _ already _ fourteen, Veronica, you can’t-”

“- It’s irresponsible!”

“Veronica, you  _ can’t _ -”

“Yes, I can.” Veronica was as calm as ever, but Lance was about to cry. He had had barely time to commit the weekend to memory. He had already planned a false bottom in his desk drawer, already bought the materials in the hardware store. But now, Veronica was destroying everything.

“Veronica,  _ please- _ ”

“I’m sorry, Lance,” she said and actually sounding remorseful. “I’m not going to tell mom, but you can’t keep the weapon.”

“How- how do you know of the gun anyway?”

“He wanted to give me one too, when I went with him to the trip. I declined and you should have as well,” she explained, closing the case. That was the last time Lance had seen his blaster, the first physical present he ever got from his father.

“Veronica-” 

“No, Lance.”

“What if I prove you that I am responsible?” he tried. “I’m going to go to the Garrison. Fighter pilot training includes weapon training, right? I’m going to prove you that I’m able to handle it and then, I’m getting it back, okay?”

Veronica was silent for several seconds, searching Lance’s face for any sign of uncertainty. But Lance was dedicated. Even though his cheeks were wet and his knees trembled, because- why couldn’t he keep the only thing his father gave him? The only thing his father ever taught him? He learned to ride a bike with Luis, he learned to play soccer with Marco, struggled through homework with Veronica, and… everything a father usually taught the son, he got taught by one of his siblings, because  _ their _ father was never around.

Shooting was the only thing he ever had a  _ chance _ to teach Lance and Lance was good at it- so  _ why _ couldn’t he keep it?

He knew Veronica was stronger and would he make a fuss about it, their mother would be alerted and then, every chance of getting the blaster back would be gone.

He needed to show Veronica he was serious.

And somehow, Veronica saw it.

“Okay.” Veronica nodded. “Pass the Garrison weapon-care-finals with an A. No B, no B+, an  _ A, _ ” she stressed, “and you’re getting it back. Got it?”

“Yes.”

:

Now, Lance stood in an alien medical bay, without ever having a chance at passing the test, shooting on a daily basis.

And looking back, the blaster  _ had _ looked awfully altean.

Gulping down the rising bile, he slowly pulled the pictures out of his pocket. The upper one was of his family, back in the states. His siblings, mother and grandparents grinned back at him.

He missed them dearly, but that wasn’t the picture he wanted to look at. His hands shook as he pulled the second one to the front. His fourteen year old self grinned back at him. The man, sitting next to him, looked like he ever did. Long and wavy grey hair, bright blue eyes. Grey stubbles framed by a defined jawline. Strong arms wrapped around his son.

He didn’t look particularly Altean, but they were shapeshifters, so maybe… maybe he hid his true nature all the time? He must have.

But why didn’t he ever…?

It explained the sadness when he thought about his homeland - Altea was destroyed. He couldn’t go back, because there was nothing to go back to.

His father’s blue eyes held so many secrets… why didn’t he ever tell them?

Coran had grown unusually quiet, his rambling stopped sometime when Lance was lost in thoughts. But not only that, he stared at the photo in Lance’s hand, but his face was blank.

“Is that your father, my boy?”

“Um… yeah,” Lance shrugged, “when I turned fourteen, he took me out on a hunting trip.”

“To hunt the Wobblegoozle?” Coran asked, his voice weirdly strained.

“How do you know that?”

Coran didn’t answer, merely drawing his right hand over his face, ruffling his moustache and rubbing at his eyes. “It was… a monster that haunted the forest behind the castle on Altea. It was caught long before even my grandparents were born, but it turned out to be a tradition to ‘hunt’ the beast with children when they lost their childhood, fourteen deca-phoebs into their life cycle.”

Humming, Lance glanced back down to the photo, while Coran pressed a few more buttons, but eventually began to talk again. “Did you ever see a picture of King Alfor?”

The question confused him, but he shook his head. “Only when the castle was haunted. But I didn’t really get a good look at him and he wore that bulky armor, so, no, not really, why do you ask?”

Instead of answering, Coran pressed a few buttons on the console, drawing up a picture of an Altean man with silver hair, bright blue eyes, holding a little girl - Allura.

The pictures in his hand fluttered to the ground as his fingers gave out, just a second before before his knees followed. 

Lance crashed to the ground, staring at the holographic picture right in front of him -  _ his _ father, only with baby blue sickles below his eyes, just like Lance’s own.  _ Allura’s _ father, the same dark skin, bright eyes, grey - no, silver - hair, pulled back in a familiar ponytail.

His mind raced, but no clear thought was able to form.

He barely registered Coran crouching down next to him, talking - everything was white noise. Everything blurred together and he barely registered that he started hyperventilating.

He needed several minutes until he was able to grasp a coherent thought. The first one was that - holy shit, his father is over 10.000 years old. The second, and that one  _ hurt _ , Allura was his sister.

Oh god, Allura was a princess. Was he a prince? How did that Altean royalty shazam work?

“Can you tell Allura?” Lance gasped when his lungs started to work again. “Please, Coran, I can’t do that.” He was a chicken.

“Lance-”

“No, please, I…” he hiccuped, just now finding out why his sight was still blurry. Tears were drenching his face. “I want to tell her. But…” He didn’t know what he was doing, but… Allura’s father, his father… “Please, Coran.”

“Okay, I can do that,” Coran nodded and continued to rub his back. His senses came slowly back to him, and with them, his brain started to compare his father with what he knew of King Alfor-

Alfor and Alfonso. He should have known. And Rachel- she was a splitting image of Allura, only with dark hair and eyes. 

Groaning, he slumped forwards, pressing his face against his knees. “I’m feeling so dumb.”

“You couldn’t have known that Alfor was your father. Even though I wonder how he managed to survive all this time.”

“Zarkon found a way, why shouldn’t he?”

“That might be true,” Coran murmured. “He must have taken refugee on earth after some time.”

“Then, he met my mom and got five children. Great.”

They sat in silence for a few more minutes and Lance tried to organize his head, fitting what he knew of Alfor into the picture he had of his father. It was difficult. Those two were two different people, two different lifes. One had ended 10.000 years ago, one was living an isolated life on an isolated beach. But somehow, these two people were one.

The console suddenly beeped and Coran glanced up, sighing upon reading the results. Lance had begun to learn Alten, but right now, he doubted he could even read english.

“I ran a few scans, compared your DNA with King Alfors, only to be certain. I was right, you’re Alfor’s child.”

Huffing, Lance fell to his back, sprawling onto the ground. “Awesome.” Not. Now, it was inevitable. Allura  _ was _ his sister. He had a crush on his sister. Great.

“Lance?” Turning back to Coran, he hummed in question.

“Are you okay to be left alone? I need to tell Allura.”

“Sure, go,” he huffed and sat up again, looking for the photos he had dropped. “I’m just going to sort my life. No biggie.”

“Lance?”

When Coran placed his hand on his shoulder, Lance looked up to him for the first time since his life got turned upside down. “Were going to sort this out. Nothing has to change if you don’t want it to, got it?”

Nodding, Lance averted his gaze again and collected his pictures. The pictures that somehow were so familiar, but suddenly held so many more information. 

Coran stood up and was about to leave the room, when Lance held him back. “Thank you, Coran.”

Without saying a word, but with a grin, Coran exited the med bay.


	2. We have a Bonding-Moment!!

Lance sat on the ground for a few more seconds and eventually decided that he needed to distract himself. And the castle’s go-to method for distracting? Well, for most of them programming something, but Lance was too dumb to do that, so he turned to the training deck after putting on his armor.

Drawing his bayard - that has also been his father’s, it seemed - he started his training program shooting drone after drone, ducking to evade blasters himself. After a few hours, the sweat was dripping from his face and hair into the lower parts of the suit, his muscles screaming at him to rest.

Huffing out a sigh, he ended the current sequence with a precise shot into the middle of the small hovering drone. That last level had been tricky, because the drone’s weren’t only zig zagging around an shooting him, but also were programmed to distract him with an onslaught on one side, only to shoot into his back. Strategy was something he despised in these damn programs.

Lance simply deactivated his bayard and pulled off his helmet, ruffling through his wet hair. He needed a shower.

“Lance?”

“He, Hunk,” Lance smiled and turned to his best friend. “Guess who beat level 21! I’m the sharpshooter!!” he hollered and started a simple victory dance.

“That’s really cool,” Hunk smiled, but Lance easily saw that Hunk was here to talk about something else.

“Coran told you, huh?”

Hunk squirmed. “Not really. Well, yes, he did, but it was more of an accident. He talked to Allura and she wanted to get to you immediately, but he wanted to let you progress things. I heard the commotion and intervened.”

“Considering Allura hasn’t stormed the room yet, I say you sided with Coran?”

“Of course,” Hunk nodded resolutely. “I saw how devastated you were when we found out you were only part-altean, so I guessed now…. speaking of, how are you holding up?”

“It’s okay, I guess? I mean, nothing has to change, right?”

Again, Hunk squirmed. “Well, sorry, but… that was true when your altean part was random and not-known and such, but King Alfor is kind of a big deal? I mean, are you a prince now? Allura is your sister and you have a crush-”

Lance flinched and averted his gaze, trying to suppress the tears. He had tried to not think about that little detail.

“Oh, sorry,” Hunk murmured and stepped closer. “That must hurt, right?”

Lance only scoffed and rubbed his hand over his face. “Of course it hurts. You can’t just switch off a crush,” he grumbled. “I just… have to get used to it, I guess.”

“I guess?” Silence stretched between them. He needed to take a shower and try to sleep the rest of the day away. He was so tired, emotionally and physically. Maybe he’d cry some bit, but this detail wasn’t (it was) decided yet.

“But this has something good, too,” Hunk chimed. “Now, you can focus your energy on Keith and won’t have to be torn.”

“WHAT?!” he screeched. “What about Keith?!"

Hunk's teasing smirk told him that he walked right into a trap.

"Lance, even though you're altean, I'm still your best friend, you can't fool me."

"What do you _mean_??"

Hunk only sighed as if they had had this discussion about a million times. They had _not_. "Lance, Lance," he smiled in pitty. "How long do you want to keep that denial up?"

"What denial?"

"Come on, Lance," Hunk snickered and drew his arm around his shoulders, gently steering him out of the training deck. "Even you aren't that dense. We all know that you have a tiny crush on our resident emo."

"I do _not_!!" he spluttered, stumbling after Hunk.

It was only when he was in his shower that he noticed his spirits had lifted. Hunk always had that effect on him. That was the reason Lance stuck close to the boy when they met for the first time. Hunk was his best friend, his soulbuddy. 

Even though he was crazy thinking that Lance had a … a _crush_ on Keith. His heart still belonged to Allura, it just didn't get the she's-your-sister-memo yet.

Anyway, Keith was… Keith. He had a dumb mullet. Sure, Lance missed him like crazy, but that was because Keith was part of his family. They argued a lot, but Lance always argued with Veronica or Marco too, arguing was part of being family. It would feel weird without.

Even though Lance enjoyed arguing with Keith. There had been malice, somewhere, sometime at the Garrison, but they knew that the other didn't really mean it.

At least Lance did.

...Did Keith know Lance didn't hate him?

Hopefully.

...Maybe he had to remind him when they talked the next time.

Having his Keith-related problems solved for now, Lance ended his shower, dried and dressed.

But when he walked out of his bathroom, he wasn't alone in his room. Allura sat on the bed, perking up when he entered.

"Allura?"

"Hey, Lance," she greeted him and patted the bed next to her. "I hoped we could talk?"

He thought that would happen eventually.

"Sure," he simply shrugged and sat down next to her. "I'm sure you want some answers?"

"Lance, I thought my father was dead for about 10.000 years. The last thing I knew was that Zarkon killed him. And now I have a brother? _You_ are my brother," she ended in a whisper and took his hand between hers. "Lance, please tell me about our father."

On any given day, Lance would have jumped on a chance to hold Allura's hand like that, but now, it only hurt.

"I'd really like to, but… I don't know much about him myself, to be honest. Especially after this morning, I… I have the feeling I didn't know him at all."

"That's okay," Allura said and squeezed his hand tighter. "Just… tell me what you know. Please."

With a sigh, he turned to better face her. "He was always closed off. Only ever visited when it was convenient. He… tried though. I never resented him for being absent. Now, I guess, he did it to not get too attached? He had already lost a family and was certain to survive us too, so… I don't really know. The others never really liked him though."

"Your siblings?"

"Yes," he smiled. "I guess they're your siblings too, now," he said and pulled the photos out of his jacket that he had dumped on his bed before his shower.

"That's Marco," he gesture to his older brother. "He's the oldest. He's already married to Lisa, these are their children Sylvio and Nadia. The second oldest is Veronica. She studied at the Garrison too. The third one is Luis. He's a bit of a slacker, but he's awesome at comforting people. Rachel is the fourth. I always go to her if I have any problems. She could really kick your ass if you get on her nerves."

He stopped, skipping his mother and his grandparents. "I'm the youngest and… well, you know me."

With a sad smile, he pulled out the second picture. "That was dad when we went out hunting on my fourteenth birthday."

Allura gasped and gently took the photo from his hands. He let her.

She gently traced Alfon- _Alfor's_ frame with her index, soaking in every detail. The longer they sat in silence, the more tears build in her eyes. 

When the first one touched her cheek, Lance gently grabbed her shoulder. "When we sort everything out with the empire and are visiting earth - and yes, we're definitely going to - we can search him and let him hear some few choice words, okay?"

"That sounds good," Allura smiled at him, tears trailing down her cheeks. It broke him to see her like this.

So, he did what he always did to Rachel or Luis, drawing them into a tight hug. Allura easily reciprocated and they sat like this for several minutes.

Lance didn't know what Allura was thinking, but for him, it was a good-bye. No more romantic feelings, he decided. If he couldn't be her lover, then he's going to be the best little brother Allura could ask for. 

Squeezing her one last time, he let out a sigh and drew back, smiling at her.

"I'm looking forward to introduce you to our family."

Her teary laugh echoed around the room and she drew him tighter against her. With a small laugh, he sunk into her embrace. Maybe it would be easier with time.

They eventually left the room and found the rest of the team in the lounge, playing that space version of Dungeons and Dragons.

All was fine and went according to plan, until Lotor and Allura went into the quintessence field.

The scanners picked up an altean pod, with none other than Keith inside. Well, he looked and acted like Keith, but he looked older and bigger and...more mature in general. But Lance gave him the benefit of doubt, simply because someone _finally_ told them to stop Lotor.

They were in for a surprise when he actually exited the pod. He not only looked older, but he was even… dare he say, _handsome_. That couldn't be Keith.

"Hold on," he started and stepped closer. "How do we know you're the real Keith and not his bigger, cooler, grizzled older brother?"

Keith only rolled his eyes. "I don't have time for this, Lance- wait, Lance??" He stopped in his tracks and simply stared at Lance. "You're altean?"

"What?" Lance scoffed, crossing his arms. "You can't be the only alien in the team?"

"Of course not, but-" Groaning, he ruffled his hair and shook his head. "Doesn't matter. We need to stop Lotor."

With this, he brushed past Lance to the rest of the team. "Hey, everybody, Keith's back!" He murmured, turning around as well.

"Lotor's been lying to all of us," he started anew.

"Lying about what?"

"Everything," a new voice from behind answered.

It seems he not only brought a wolf and his freaking _mom_ , but also an unknown Altean. 

… where were all the Alteans coming from?? He just hoped it wasn't another sibling. He couldn't take any more surprises.

Luckily, his father _didn't_ walk through the universe getting hooked up with random people. Romelle, the new Altean came from a colony that Lotor founded. And Lotor, the dick (now he could say it: I _told_ you so), had sacrificed Alteans for their quintessence for centuries.

Everything afterward happened in a blurr. Shiro went bonkers, the fight against Lotor, the destruction of the castle ship and Shiro's revival. All of that happened in only a few hours, but when he slumped in the cot he had prepared in Red in the evening before they started their travel home, it felt like they had been up for weeks without rest. So, the second his head hit the pillows, he was out like a light.

The next morning came too early. And too violently.

Instead of waking him like a normal person, that jerk somehow got into his lion (certainly he and Red were ganging up on him. Lance _knew_ Keith trained the lion somehow) and ripped away his blanket.

Mewling, Lance curled tighter into his pillows.

"Lance? Hunk prepared some breakfast, you should get up so we can go home."

Lance only hummed, burying his face deeper into the residing warmth.

"And, Lance?" he sounded a bit off, so Lance peeked out. The Black Paladin stood a few feet away, looking concerned. Damn, he really aged well in the two years in the Rift.

Humming, he signalled him that he was listening.

"Allura told me about your father. And I was wondering whether you wanted to talk? It has only been a few days, right?"

That was… oddly considerate.

With a yawn he sat up and shrugged. "I don't really know. Everything happened so fast and I don't really know how to get everything together."

Without thinking about it, he patted his bed next to him and Keith moved to sit beside him. "How did you cope with being half-galra?"

"Well," Keith smiled gently. "It definitely was under better circumstances. I never knew my mother in the first place and we weren't stuck in such a chaos when we found out."

Glancing away, he quickly looked back up when he felt a hand on his shoulder. "But I knew you all had my back, whether I was galra or not. And that made it easier to accept that some part of me will always be different and at the same time not. We meet so many new people and species on a daily basis, we aren't really that different right?

"We are still the same person. Blade of Marmora. Prince of Altea. This doesn't need to be a bad thing. On the contrary: There's an entire new part of you that you can explore now, so you just have to find out how your other half can make you a _better_ person.

"I mean, look at me. The Blade of Marmora trained me and taught me patience. It made me a better leader.

"You just have to find out how being Altean can aid you."

Lance stared. Hard.

What Keith said summed all his worries up and even offered some sort of comfort. Okay, he guessed they _were_ in somewhat the same situation, only on different parts of the spectrum. It didn't change the feeling though.

Having your entire life and being questioned was a heavy blow, but Keith was two years of reflection ahead of him. No wonder he was better at dealing with that stuff.

And it actually helped. Not only that incredible 'be a better person' speech, but also knowing that, whatever Lance felt, he wasn't alone.

"But how could be Altean help me?" he asked, tilting his head. "It's not like I can suddenly change my appearance or do magic mumbo-jumbo."

"Did you ever try? Hunk said you found out on Oriande, because your marks started glowing. There must be _some_ sort of magic in you, or Oriande wouldn't have deemed you worthy, right?"

That… was correct as well. "I'd have to talk to Allura, I guess?"

"That sounds like plan," Keith smiled. Lance's heart fluttered some and he blamed that on Hunk, planting the idea of him and Keith- NO. No, nope, no way. "But this has to wait until after breakfast, okay?"

That smile he flashed Lance should have been forbidden. Who could say no to a smiling Mullet-Keith? Not Lance.

"Okay, go ahead. I'll change real quick and meet you guys outside."

Keith simply nodded and patted his shoulder once more before he stood up to leave.

"Oh and Lance?" he stopped and added. "I found it helpful to not think too much. So don't overuse your pretty head." With that, he turned around and left for good, leaving a flustered Lance behind.

:

After everyone complained about their travelling arrangements, they got attacked by Zethrid and Ezor, barely managed to get out of there alive (nothing new there) and settled on a nearby planet with Acxa who explained that they were missing for three entire years.

By the time they settled for the night, his head was swimming once more. He needed to talk to Allura.

Quickly opening a private channel to Allura, he hoped she could help him sort some stuff out.

" _Hey, Lance,_ " she greeted him. " _Is everything okay?_ "

"Sorry to call you that late," he murmured, hugging his pillow he brought to the cockpit to his chest. "But I was wondering whether you could answer some questions?"

" _Of course,_ " Allura smiled. " _I'll try to answer to my best ability. What's bothering your soul?_ "

"It's about being Altean. You once said there were different kinds? Like Coran, who is an excellent mechanic, but has barely a touch of magic?"

" _Yes, that is true,"_ she said with a nod. " _Do you want to know what kind of talent you might possess?_ "

Shrugging, he hugged his pillow tighter. "It might sort some things. I don't know."

She flashed him a gentle smile. " _Do not worry if you struggle with finding your strength. Many Alteans find theirs many years into their life."_

"That might be true, but my marks glowed when we were close to Oriande, can't that narrow it down some bit?"

" _Yes it does,_ " she nodded. " _I can give you a quick summary of the most common magic-based ones for now, if you want? We can try to figure the rest out if you're showing any sign of talent, how does that sound?"_

_If_ he was showing talent. That part didn't get missed by him. But he should have guessed that normal Altean-standards didn't work for only half-Alteans.

"That sounds good," he smiled ruefully and settled back, ready to listen.

" _Alright_ ," Allura nodded thoughtfully, " _I guess I'll start by myself and father. We're Alchemists. Alchemists are skilled with transformation and change. Whether it is the transformation in another species or the transferring of energy, like I did creating the Sincline, or father Voltron._ "

"Like you transferred Shiro into the clone?"

" _That's right,_ " Allura nodded. " _With Alchemists, everything is about change, but also knowing_ what _you want to change into_ what. _Knowledge is essential in basically anything about magic related talents._

_"But Alchemists are extremely rare in the first place. I wouldn't count on being an Alchemist as well. More common are the Ephemerides, the Healers and the Vedas._

_"The Ephemerides were basically astronomers. They had a deep connection to the universe and devoted their life to map and sort the known space, always thrived to go further, find new planets and species and connect with them. They were able to change their appearance too, Alchemists are a subgroup of the Ephemerides. They were our diplomats, ambassadors and general representers. If you encountered an Altean out of Altea - they were most likely an Ephemeride._

_"The Healers have a deep connection to the nature of the body. They took care of the body, mind and soul. It's quite a specific treat, but our doctors were usually healers. The cryo pods could only do so much and were accessible for everyone, but you generally needed a healer to check you up. They decided whether a trip into a pod was necessary or not. They dealt with the aftermath too. Coran's mother was a healer, that's why he knows so much about general medicine. Our great-grandmother too._

_"The third, and the biggest group are the Vedas, our priests. They stayed solely on Altea and learned and cherished Altean culture. They had a deep bond with our ancestors, guiding those souls, living or dead, that got lost or needed help. They lived in temples and were generally the go-to for anyone who needed spiritual help."_

Allura stopped for a second, thinking whether she forgot to add something. _"That's about it. I already said every group has specific subgroups, like Alchemists for Ephemerides, Psychologists for Healers or Guid for Veda. But I guess we'll tackle these for when we know which general group you belong to, okay?"_

"Sounds good," Lance smiled. "I guess I'll have to think a bit about that first, though."

" _That's okay. Tell me if you have an idea?"_

"Of course," he nodded. "Thank you. Have a good night, Allura."

" _It was a pleasure. Sweet dreams, Lance._ "

With that, he ended the call and sat back again, thinking about what Allura told him. 

Ephe- Ephemo… Ephemerides? He couldn't even remember the name. But they were explorers, those who had contact to other species and planets. Lance loved that idea, because he already enjoyed their team’s travels and lived for social interaction. He always wanted to be a pilot and travel through space. But was his connection to the universe deep enough to be an Epho- one of them?

Healer sounded cool. Being a doctor sure would be fun. Even though being the youngest, he always had been the one to treat his siblings injuries. Sure, most of the time he was the one that either needed the treatment because he was too reckless, or be the one _inflicting_ the injury, because he accidently slipped and hit Luis over the head or dared Rachel to jump out of the window. And he had no clue about psychology.

Veda were priests. His mother and grandparents were catholic and he always enjoyed the serenity in church, the songs (if they chose to sing a peppy one for once) and he loved the smell of incense. But did Lance have a connection to 'the ancients'? He never felt quite religious either. But he was a people's person, having to guide Pidge or Hunk in the middle of the night to bed more than once. Did that count?

He had no clue.

They would have to wait for a sign of his magic to show, he guessed.

Even though the talk helped nothing to figure his Altean half out, Lance felt better. He was one step closer to being his ultimate self. They just had to figure out whether he was a diplomat, a doctor or a priest. Sounded easy enough.

He just needed a plan, try out the different things and look what was better suited for him. Diplomat was fairly easy. The next planet they visited, he'd just be glued to Allura's hip and try to be diplomat-y. 

Doctor was fairly easy to try too. Coran was the one who currently treated all their injuries. Maybe he could borrow some books or educational videos from him, maybe help when someone of the team got hurt.

How he could try to be a priest was a mystery to him. Allura said they had a connection to the ancients and guided people? He should maybe try meditating and ask Allura for any more infos.

With that plan in mind, he was fairly proud of himself. He's going to rock being Altean. He's going to be the best half-Altean in the universe. He's even going to be a better half-Alien than Keith.

Talking about Keith.

Glancing at the console, he wondered whether he was still awake? He wanted to tell him his plan, maybe get some tipps from an outside view.

Without thinking too hard about it, he pressed the button to call the Black Lion.

It rung a few times and Lance was about to chicken out when the call connected and Keith's sweaty face appeared on his screen.

"Were… were you _training_ ? _Now??_ " he asked, confused beyond confusion.

Keith only sighed, glancing behind his back. " _Krolia is_ ruthless _. I swear, compared to her, my normal training regime was a kindergarten. So, thanks, Lance, you really gave me a reason to get out."_

Blinking, Lance watched Keith slump in his chair, rubbing his eyes. It looked kind of surreal.

"Wow, I never imagined I'd see the day the great Keith Kogane chickened out of training."

" _I didn't_ chicken _out of training, Lance. It was a long day and it’s entirely reasonable to want to rest to replenish your strength._ "

The way Keith delivered that line, entirely dry and serious, but with mortification and fed up annoyance underneath, made Lance laugh out loud.

"Just admit you want to ditch her for your bed."

" _Oh, I'd really like to go to bed,"_ Keith groaned, slumping even further down his seat. " _But she insisted I'd take the call and return as soon as possible."_

"Hey, I could provide some more cover," Lance started, having either his best, or his worst idea so far. "Tell her I have problems with Red, or something and come over. We could have a sleepover. You get some rest and I get some company."

The other end of the line was silent for a few seconds. " _Could I really…?"_

"Of course. My hangar is your hangar. I even have a spare bed for when Romelle slept here."

" _Thank you, I'd… really like to,_ " Keith said with a gentle nod. " _So, see you in a bit?"_

"Good luck ditching your mom," Lance smiled.

" _I don't need luck, I need a wonder,"_ he joked and ended the call.

Lance giggled and hugged his pillow tighter. A sleepover with Keith sounded good. He had missed his Mullet.

Quickly sweeping through his hangar, he shoved boxes back into their hold and set up the spare cot right next to his own bed.

He didn't have to wait long until he felt Red move and let Keith inside. He had expected him to enter in normal clothes, but he still wore his Paladin armor, dark bags under his eyes more prominent than on the screen.

"You look exhausted," Lance greeted him, only receiving a glare in response. "I guess Krolia didn't let you part with your pajamas?"

"I'll just sleep in the undersuit, I guess. Did so for the last two years anyway."

"No, no," Lance intervened grabbing his arm and pulling him to the box with his clothes. "No one under my roof sleeps in _under armor_ . You can have some of my clothes. The pants won't fit, so you have to sleep in your boxers, but luckily for you, I like my sleeping shirts loose, so they _will_ fit you."

"Lance, I don't need-"

"Ah, bap bap. Yes, you need to. Here," he said, simply shoving one of his sleeping shirts into Keith's arms. "The longer you talk, the later you get to go to bed."

With a sigh, Keith related and stripped out of his armor, slow, delicate moves showing how _tired_ he was. Lance felt like a creep watching him, so he continued setting up the cot, pulling out extra pillows and blankets. Was it comfortable enough? Keith needed to sleep and he knew the cot wasn't the best suited sleeping arrangement.

"Thank you, Lance," Keith suddenly murmured and appeared at his side. Lance did _not_ flinch, but stepped aside to give him some space. "I really appreciate it."

"No worries," Lance smiled. "Make yourself comfortable, do you need another pillow?"

"Lance," Keith huffed a laugh and sat down on the cot, already cuddling into the covers. "Any more pillows and I'm going to drown in feathers in my sleep."

"Right, we don't want that," Lance laughed and sat down on his own bed, getting comfortable alongside Keith. "I once took part in an actual pillow fight where they had ripped the edges of the pillows a bit so feathers could fly everywhere like in movies or animes and let me tell you, that was _not_ funny. The feathers got _everywhere_ and I coughed them up even days later, when-" he stopped as he saw Keith's peacefully resting face, dead asleep.

He found himself staring. For once, Keith’s face wasn't pulled into a frown or hardened with memories no one of the team should even have. Keith looked entirely peaceful and, even though the angry burn mark marred his cheek, dark bruises hollowing his eyes, Lance dared to say he was handsome.

Damn Hunk.

Turning away from Keith, he settled into his own covers, trying to get some rest himself. It was only when he was about to drift off, he noticed they hadn't talked about his plan to find his nature. He guessed there were more pressing matters to attend.

When he woke up the next morning, he found Keith was still asleep next to him, over in that cot.

That was highly unusual in and of itself, but he guessed Keith simply needed a full night's rest.

And Lance wasn't really complaining, even though Keith hogged the majority of Lance's pillows. Wasn't _he_ the one who said 'one more pillow and I'm going to drown'? It seems sleeping Keith didn't agree with awake Keith, because, somehow, he had managed to steal Lance's entire stash of pillows and blankets. 

Lance was left with only those he slept on, the rest, where he liked to bury himself in on sad days or lonely nights, were entirely in Keith's cot, twisted and curled around the boy that had his face buried in Lance's favourite comfort-pillow. 

He looked cu- no, ado- no, eh, normal. He looked normal. Buried in Lance's pillows and blankets, he looked absolutely normal, nothing out of the ordinary.

With a groan, Lance quickly stood up and shuffled around, careful to not wake Keith while he changed into his armor. 

Lance was about to exit, when his eyes fell onto the blanket heap next to his bed. Barely thinking about what he was doing, he snatched his last blanket, the one he had slept in, and gently placed it onto Keith's heap.

He _really_ tried not to think too much about it as he exited Red.

Hunk was already awake, stirring some kind of leftover stew for breakfast, so they could continue the journey as soon as possible.

"I hate you," Lance hissed as he slumped down next to Hunk, burying his face in his knees. "I absolutely hate you."

Still halfway asleep, Hunk let out a series of confused noises, but they didn't come far in their conversation when Krolia joined them.

"Lance, have you seen Keith? He didn't come back last night."

"Oh, yeah, he's still in Red," Lance mumbled without raising his head from his knees. "Sorry he didn't come back, but I had problems with Red last night and when we eventually sorted everything out, it was late and I offered him to stay."

"You had problems with Red?" Krolia asked. "I thought you asked him to train with you?"

Daaaaamn. Okay, no problem, he could make something up. "Oh, yeah," Lance shrugged, fiddling with his glove and turning his gaze anywhere except to Krolia. "Yeah, we _started_ training, but then Red made some weird beeping sounds and neither of us could figure out where they came from and everything just- went longer than anticipated?"

Glancing at Krolia, he hoped she would buy the lie, while simultaneously drowning out Hunk's choking noises.

"Well, I hope you located the problem," Krolia eventually continued, still suspicious. 

"Of course, it was only a loose cable, but neither of us is a mechanic, so it simply took longer to locate. Everything's peachy now," he grinned nervously. "But thank you for your concern."

"Well, if you see Keith the next time, tell him to come to me. He missed our morning training and I'm concerned."

"Will do," Lance grinned back, breathing a sigh of relief when the Galra turned back to enter Black.

A few seconds of silence stretched between him and Hunk, until his best friend decided to speak up. "Is _Keith_ the reason why you hate me?"

"You planted a dumb idea in my head," Lance hissed, burying his face back into his knees. "And it won't go _away_. Just know that I blame you."

"Of course," Hunk giggled, suddenly wide awake. "Speaking of, what _really_ happened yesterday?"

"Nothing, I _swear_ ," he groaned, not knowing what 'something' would have been. "He just was so exhausted, Krolia is running him dry. He just wanted to sleep and I offered him my spare cot. That's all. He was out like a light even before his head really hit the pillow. I'm surprised he was even able to walk the entire way over with how exhausted he was."

"Oh, poor Keith," Hunk murmured, stirring mindlessly his stew.

"So, about a particular idea-"

"No," Lance started, hugging his head tighter. "We're not talking about this now."

"But are you developing _feelings_?" Hunk gushed, gently pushing Lance with his elbow. "Towards a certain Mullet?"

"Nope," Lance lied and he _knew_ he was lying. To Hunk, to himself, to everyone.

But he barely had time to think about it when a grumpy Pidge joined them with Shiro in tow, Allura right next to them. Keith eventually tumbled out of Red as well and after a quick debrief, they separated into their respective lions.

Lance quickly pulled Keith aside to let him into his constricted cover story. They wouldn't do the same mistake twice.

However, as soon as they were back on the metaphorical road, he remembered why he wanted to talk to Keith in the first place.

Muting the communal channel, Lance called him once more and Keith was quick to accept the call. " _Lance? Is anything wrong?_ "

"No, I wanted to talk to you real quick about what you said the other day, is that okay?"

Keith seemed to think about it for a second, but eventually remembered. " _Yes, of course. Do you have an idea?_ "

"Well, I talked to Allura and she explained that there were about three different kinds of magic. Well, sorta. There seem to be subgroups and whatnot, but she said we should focus on them first and…"

They talked for the better part of the morning, quickly straying from their initial topic. It was really nice. Lance never took time out of his day to talk to Keith and he now deeply regretted that choice.

Keith was a grumpy ball of black humour and flat sarkasm, sprinkled with childish joy about cryptids. Who would have thought he would bond with Keith about sea monsters and mermaids?

It was about their simulated midday when the others seemed to notice their absence - well, either noticing or finally choosing to comment - when Keith got called from Green, Shiro on the other end, asking them to get back to the communal channel.

The days went by like that. They once or twice fought Galra patrols that weren't that hard to deal with, they sometimes stopped by the random planet. But most of the time, they sat in their respective cockpits. 

Lance used an insane amount of time to learn Altean. Allura and Coran finally took their time to teach him and with their help, he quickly caught up and managed to get quite a firm grasp on language and semantics. He even learned about their history and that was actually interesting.

He also often chatted with Keith, they laughed about Keith's wolf they quickly dubbed Cosmo, who slobbered all over Keith's suit when he teased him with a bit of beef jerky. They were teasing and arguing and needed the others to settle their silly arguments more than once, but everything was kept in light spirits.

Then, Garfle Warfle Snick happened.

That… was something Lance didn't want to repeat. It was humiliating and dumb. _He_ wasn't dumb. Naive, annoying, _bad_ at names, and a good part clumsy with too confident as a topping, but _not_ dumb.

He may be no mechanic like Hunk, or a genius like Pidge. But he got fairly good grades in school and was _not_ dumb. He wouldn't have made it into the Garrison if he was dumb.

Then, they were forced to chose one of the team to leave the game and Lance just couldn't choose. He told himself he chose Keith, because he's the leader.

Keith, choosing him was a bit of a surprise, but after all, not really.

It was only when they were back in their lions when he noticed something weird. So, he again muted the communal channel and called Pidge.

" _Hey, dum-dum,_ " she snickered. " _Everything good?_ "

"Yeah, I got a question, though."

" _Shoot_ ," she said, leaning back.

"Alright," he started, not quite knowing how to word his thoughts. "When Bob made us choose who was to leave the show, why did you choose Hunk? I mean, I guess Hunk choosing Allura makes sense, Allura choosing you as well. I can even understand Keith's reasoning," he grumbled, he had thought they were getting along better. "But I don't get why you chose Hunk? Sure, Hunk is awesome at connecting people, but he is by no means a leader, diplomat or fighter. How should he be able to continue our mission or keep the coalition afloat with his people-pleasing?"

Pidge only sighed, shaking her head. " _Sure, Hunk is awesome, but I know what you mean. Should I tell you the real reason?"_

_"_ That's why I'm asking."

" _I didn't really have a choice,_ " she shrugged. " _We had to make certain that nobody got two votes. Allura choosing me was fairly secure, even though it was also possible that she chose you. It was quite a gamble, however, she always was fascinated with me and my family, so I guessed I was already out._

_"Hunk knew that too, so he chose Allura. He had a similar thought process. I know, because I asked him earlier. And I knew you and Keith would choose each other, so that left only Hunk."_

"Wait," Lance interjected. "How did you know I would choose Keith? Even _I_ didn't know I would choose him."

" _Come on, Lance. It's quite obvious. You can't be still in denial."_

"In denial of what?"

" _You know what? I'm tired and don't want to deal with emotions. But be prepared for teasing once you figured it out."_ With that, Pidge cut the call and left Lance in the silence of his lion.

Pidge… she couldn't possibly mean the same thing as Hunk, right?

...no.

He'd have to ask Hunk, but when the call connected, Hunk only said " _No, Lance, Pidge warned me, I'm not going to mingle, so you either have something else to tell me than you asked her, or I'm going to end the call. Sort out your feelings of your own."_

Grumbling, Lance ended the call without saying anything.

:

The next time they stopped on an uninhabited planet, Lance was about to pester Hunk in person when Allura pulled him aside.

"Lance, have you made any progress on finding your talent?"

"Not really," he sighed, watching Hunk try some weird bulb a bit further away from them. "I tried meditating but that's just plain boring. I read through some articles about the altean body and even though they were fairly interesting, I don't… really get to keep that stuff in my head, you know? And we didn't really had a chance to go all diplomat yet, so…"

He trailed off with a shrug. "Maybe I don't have a talent at all."

"Don't worry too much about it," Allura smiled and put her hand on his shoulder, squeezing it. "The talent has to show on it's own accord. There is no use in forcing it. And like I said, many Alteans only found theirs when they were a few centuries old. So, you're in no haste."

Somehow, that wasn't as reassuring as Allura surely intended it to be.

"Buuuut," she drawled, her eyes looking more exciting. "I got you something. You know, Garfle Warfle Snick made me realize something."

Flinching, Lance glanced to the side. He wasn't only the dumb one regarding to his intelligence, but also because of his emotions. Awesome. He didn't need a reminder.

"What? That I'm the most useless? I couldn't even remember the names of our _friends_."

"It's okay to not remember everyone," Allura waved him off. "I'd barely remember half of them if it wasn't for Coran or the Mice remembering me. But that wasn't the point.

"Lance, Hunk called me the Princess of Altea. But I'm not the only royal here," she smiled and Lance's head started spinning. But not for the usual reasons. "You're _not_ only the dumb one. You're a Prince of Altea. And you should own the title."

With that, she pulled a delicate metal band from behind her back. "It's a present from me and Coran. Usually, a small Balmera crystal would be at the center, to help your mind to focus. But we didn't have any to spare, so I took a ring our grandmother cherished and wove the jigallian crystal inside. I hope you don't mind."

To say he was floored would be an understatement. Was Allura really gifting him a _crown_ of all things?

"Allura, I can't-, I'm not really…"

"Yes, you can," Allura smiled and gently stepped into his space, raising the delicate band in front of his face. "You _are_ a Prince of Altea. We taught you all you need to know about our culture. Now it is your turn to show what you got, who you _are_."

With this, the band moved closer and the cool metal touched his temple, moving further down until it sat snug on his forehead.

And it was _heavy_.

"It looks good on you. And don't worry, I know how you feel right now. But I have no doubt you'll grow into it." Then, she lightly pecked his cheek and walked away, but all Lance was able to feel was the foreign metal sitting on his head.

"Wow," Someone pulled him out of his downward spiral. "She got you a crown?"

Keith.

"I mean it's no knife," he shrugged, "but it suits you."

"Thanks," Lance murmured, lightly touching the object caging his head.

"It distracts from your annoying self though," Keith continued, sounding aloof. "You should pull it off or someone could actually mistake you for a decent person."

"Oh, haha," Lance rolled his eyes. "Yeah, and you should actually _be_ a decent person for once."

"That was not your best insult," Keith smirked and patted his back, pulling at his arm. 

"Cut me some slack, I had a tiring day!"

"Oh, and that's suddenly an excuse? I should have pulled that sooner!"

And just like that, the band didn't feel as foreign anymore. He didn't want to focus too much on it though, so he changed his attention to Hunk, who began to choke on the bulb he was trying.

Exchanging a glance with Keith, he stumbled forwards, joining his best friend's side.

Later in the night, he pulled out a mirror to look at his face in the reflection. He barely recognised the man that stared back.

He looked older than he looked back on earth. Aside from the obvious changes, his jaw had chiselled out in the past year, now pronouncing his sharp chin and pointy nose. A light stubble throwing him off his game. He needed to shave again.

His big blue eyes held a shadow he didn't see before. His skin was lighter than before, the lack of a real sun making him looking like a normal tanned guy, not entirely Cuban. Well, he wasn't Cuban in the first place. With only half of his father's or Allura's dark complexion.

His hair, once kept short with barely any chance to escape into wilderness, now curled around his ears and into his neck. He wouldn't call it 'long' yet, but it was definitely longer than it had been in years. 

But the most prominent changes were his Altean markings. Baby blue, like King Alfor's. Small sickle marks, just below the outer corner of his eyes.

And then came the damn crown. The band Allura gave him this afternoon.

The warm golden glow complimented his darker skin, curling across his temples into his hair. It was of a simple design, quite similar to Allura's, but also so, so different. The stone was a deeper blue, no Balmeran crystal, but just as beautiful. The golden band framed the rectangular stone and holding it in place just above where his eyebrows would meet.

The slim build and the slight downwards curve actually complimented his face.

The _Prince_ he looked at barely resembled the boy that has left the Garrison, barely a year ago. Would his mamá even recognise him?

:

The next day, he chose not to wear the band. He didn't want to disappoint Allura or Coran, but no stop was planned and he planned on staying in his lion in solitude, even muting the communal channel again. No one around meant no one could judge him. 

He didn't want to part from it though, so it idly sat next to him on the console, laughing at his cowardly behaviour.

To distract himself, he pulled the documents up that Coran gave him, letting his eyes roam across the altean letters. 

Reading his father's language brought him some odd comfort. All year he had struggled through pressing random buttons on weird consoles, when in reality, it was quite easy. 

Even anatomy sounded easy in Altean.

He didn't know how long he had spaced, but Keith pulled him back out when he called.

Flinching out of his trance, he fiddled to accept the call. "Keith?"

" _Hey, Lance. Say, do you think Hunk should try that new bulb for dinner? He says it tastes a bit like strawberry, but I don't trust potato-strawberries."_

"Why not?"

" _I don't trust strawberries on a normal day, so why should I change my mind on them in space? Did you know strawberries aren't fruit, but a_ nut _? And now they are masking as a potato? Are_ you _nuts?"_

Lance laughed. God, how he had needed that.

"It's the same with tomatoes!"

Grunting, Keith leaned back in his chair. " _Another fruit I don't like."_

"Even not Bolognese? Or Chilli?" Lance asked.

" _There are tomatoes in Chilli?"_

"Yes?"

Keith cursed at that. It was actually kind of cute. And yes, Lance allowed this thought. If he could be a prince, he could admit Keith was cute, or handsome, as long as it didn't escalate into _more_.

" _You don't wear your crown?_ "

"Ah, yes," Lance smiled ruefully and rubbed at his temple. "I still have to get used to it, you know?"

" _I actually understand,"_ Keith nodded. _"Back when I didn't know where my knife came from, I had nightmares and would, as soon as I was alone, stare at it for hours, wondering. It's something similar, right?_ "

"Kind of," he admitted with a shrug and stared at the jewel next to him. "But I know what it stands for and I'm kinda-"

" _Hey,_ " Keith interrupted him. " _Don't let it get to your head. You're the youngest out of... six? Maybe more? You can't be that special, especially without a talent. How about you focus on that first and worry about the entire package afterwards?"_

Again, Keith's words were more comforting than anything else someone could have said.

" _Speaking of, did you make any progress?"_

"No," Lance groaned. "I mean meditating _really_ didn't work and neither Allura nor Coran is able to tell me more about Veda practices and I still had no chance to try to be a diplomat like Allura. I guess the medicine is quite cool, but I don't really know…"

" _Maybe focus on that then?"_

"Do I-"

" _GUYS_ ," they got interrupted by Pidge, hacking through their comms. " _We picked up a distress signal and_ neither _of you is answering our calls, so you have to quit your lover's-goo-goo-eyes._ "

"We're not-"

" _We didn't-_ "

" _I don't care, get back to the communal channel. Now,_ " Pidge interrupted them and signed out of their call.

Lance quickly exchanged a glance with Keith and both ended the call as well.

But before he could get back online to the joined chat, Lance picked up his crown and gently placed it on his head. A distress signal meant people they could talk to, so he could try to be a diplomat. And maybe a worthy sixth or more Prince of Altea. It really didn't sound too bad with that added prefix.

Unfortunately it weren't _people_ they could save, but only Kolivan from a crazy druid. The downside: Krolia decided to stay with Kolivan and Keith was devastated.

Sure, when they said their goodbyes, he was smiling and reassuring her, he would be okay without her, but Lance was able to see past his facade. The gentle downwards slope of his brows, the forced impassiveness when they boarded the lions again, without Krolia.

He found it weird that Keith didn’t call him immediately. After three vargas passed, without a single word from Keith and he spaced as Pidge and Hunk fell into one of their science-rants, Lance decided to call him on his own.

Signing out of the group chat, he called the Black Lion. The call nearly instantly disconnected. That fucker rejected his call.

But he wouldn’t be Lance if he let himself be rejected that easily. Calling him again, he noticed that he _again_ got rejected. Alright, he would get three chances until Lance started more drastic measures. But also the third call got rejected.

If they would be still in the castle, Lance would be annoying the hell out of him in front of his door until Keith eventually relented. He’d done it once or twice with Pidge. Never with Keith, simply because he wasn’t around, and if he was, he was most likely on the training deck and no one could close the training deck for security reasons. Not that Keith needed his loving intervention in the first place, but Lance liked to think that his ‘annoying little brother’-charade was a magic bullet. He wasn’t the sixth or more Prince for nothing.

“Yo, guys, sorry to interrupt,” he started in the group chat again, effectively cutting Pidge off. “But Keith’s not answering his calls, so I’m going to do a little spacewalk, just so you know.”

_“Lance, wait-”_

_“You can’t-”_

_“He’s not-?”_

Without listening to their responses, he muted his comms and gently patted Red’s consoles. “I’m going to talk to our stubborn Black Paladin, you okay simply following Black for a while?”

The resounding purr was enough permission for Lance, so he quickly grabbed his helmet and skipped into Red’s maw. The decompression hit him instantly when Red opened their mouth and Lance let out a quick whoop of joy when he found Black directly below him.

Doing quick work of his jetpack thrusters, he jumped out, landing on Black’s hull with a resounding thump, rolling to a stop. In the corner of his eyes, he saw Red keeping her distance again, the eyes twinkling in encouragement.

Smiling, Lance proceeded forwards, easily slipping in the already open mouth, that closed after his entrance. It seemed even Black was on his side.

After the green light dinged, he took off his helmet and sneaked up the ramp leading into the cockpit. Black was roomier than Red, even bigger than Blue, so he was a bit caught off guard by the sheer size. Sure, he had been in Black a few times, but he was always a bit confused when he entered a lion that wasn’t his. They were equally similar, but also so different. It was messing with your orientation, really.

However, he stopped his grumbling about a missed step, when he saw Keith, curled up in his seat, staring out the windows.

“Still a brooding teenager after three years in space, I see?”

Keith instantly flinched around, watching him with wide eyes. “What are you _doing_ here, Lance?”

Lance simply shrugged. “You didn’t answer my calls, it’s your own fault.”

“How did you even get inside??”

Shrugging again, Lance gesture into his back. “The door was open.”

Keith threw an angry glance to his consoles, murmuring ‘Traitor’. Lance laughed and tossed his helmet to the side, stepping up to Keith’s side. “So, Mullet, want to tell me why I had to come all the way over?”

“You didn’t have to,” Keith evaded and sat back up straight and took the controls of his lion. They both knew Black was the only flying, though. 

“Yes, I did, you didn’t answer my calls.”

“Because I have to answer every time you call?”

“Of course not, but I knew you were brooding all alone and I wanted to be sure you were fine. And you didn’t just ‘didn’t answer’, you rejected my calls. There’s a difference.”

Keith huffed, rolling his eyes. “Yeah, maybe I had a _reason_ to decline?”

“And that was broodiness, so, my point.”

By the time Keith turned around with a glare, Lance knew Keith was angry. Good. “Great, now that we settled that, you can go again.”

“You’re admitting to your brooding?” Lance teased, dancing a bit out of reach in case Keith decided to throw his knife. “Never thought I’d see the day.”

“Lance, I warn you.”

“Great. Now, I just have to get rid of your mullet. I honestly thought that would be easier than make you admit you’re an emo.”

“I’m no emo,” Keith grumbled and Lance revelled in the fact that Keith was fixing him, ready to jump at him.

“Oh no,” Lance slumped against one of the consoles. “Keith, we were making progress, why are you taking back your words? That’s not healthy. Or,” he gasped, “did you _lie_ to me?”

“I didn’t do _anything,_ ” he growled, “ _You_ are the one invading my space.”

“Technically, it’s Voltron-space. The lion doesn’t belong to your mullethead.”

This seemed to be the last straw as Keith jumped out of his seat. Squeaking, Lance dodged his attack, smacking against the opposite console. The lion’s heads were spacious, Black’s even more so, but Lance definitely wouldn’t recommend fighting in them.

When Keith ran after him, Lance crawled over the console to get out of his range, accidently hitting the controls and the Lion lurched to the side, throwing both of them off balance. Lance, because of his elevated position only fell into the seat clumsily, but Keith wasn’t as lucky as he crashed to the ground, hitting his head on one of the consoles.

Lance expected him to stand up again and continue chasing him, but instead, he curled into himself, groaning, mumbling ‘Quiznack’ and ‘I’m going to kill him’ over and over again.

“Eh, Keith? You good?”

The console right next to him beeped, signalling incoming calls. Lance ignored them and instead climbed out of the seat, inching his way to his fallen friend.

“Fuck, Lance, I’m bleeding!!” Keith suddenly shouted, cringing and curling tighter. 

“Really?” Lance squeaked, squatting down. “Why are you bleeding?!”

“Maybe because _someone_ ,” Keith grumbled, still not moving, “decided to break into and play around _my_ lion?”

“Sorry,” Lance murmured. “Come, let me see.”

“No, just _go away._ ”

With a sigh, Lance sat on the ground next to a now shivering Keith. "Come on, the past few days, I read so much on Altean medicine, I'm certain I _can't_ make it worse."

"You're always making things worse, Lance," Keith grumbled. "Quiznack, I'm feeling sick."

"He, Keith, you might have a concussion. Please," he murmured, gently tugging on his shoulder. "Let me have a look. A concussion is no fun."

"You're not even a medic!"

"I know, but the past few days I stuffed my head with Coran's articles, you're bound to pick up one or two things," he lightly shrugged. "I may be no healer, but I at least know how to treat a wound, so let me see?"

Keith only huffed and uncurled, but failed as he tried to sit up. "I'm going to vomit."

With a gasp, Lance hurled a nearby bin over, not caring what was inside - unfortunately some screwdrivers and tape (he guessed Keith's emergency set) - and pressed it in Keith's arms, just in time so Keith could empty his stomach inside.

Cringing, Lance gently patted Keith's back, waiting until he calmed down.

Eventually, the Black Paladin turned to him with a murderous glare. And indeed, there was a trail if blood just tickling down his temple towards his jaw. The cut itself wasn't overly large or deep, but the surrounding area was already turning an angry yellow.

Cringing once more, Lance gently pried the bucket out of his hold and shuffled to sit right in front of him.

"Alright, listen," Lance said, keeping his voice low and raising his hands next to his face. "I read about some pressure points. I'm going to massage them and look whether I can help at least with the headache? You can't cure a concussion without a pod, but let's see if I can't help with the pain?"

Keith only grunted in response and Lance took that as a signal to start. Slowly, to not startle him, he lowered his palms above his ears and cupped his skull, gently tracing his temples with his thumbs.

Careful of the bruise, just above his right thumb, he put pressure on his fingers. Not enough to hurt, but to elevate the pain. He had never done this before, but he seemed to be doing fine as Keith closed his eyes and relaxed.

They sat like this for several minutes, the beeping console stopped eventually and he was finally able to actually enjoy his time. Sure, his thumbs were about to cramp, but he continued, watching Keith's face the whole time.

He was such a creep.

When Keith hummed and let out a content sigh, Lance decided to stop and gently eased out of his movements, lowering his hands in his lap.

Keith needed a few seconds to focus again, blinking tiredly. "You know, normally, doctors aren't cause _and_ treatment of injuries."

Snickering, Lance leaned back on his hands, regarding Keith closely. "You feeling better?"

"Yeah," he mumbled, gently prodding at the forming bruise. "I actually _do_ feel better. Maybe you are a Healer?"

"Nah, not really," Lance smiled and glanced around the cabin, looking for the first-aid-kit. "Just did what I read somewhere in Coran's articles. Now let's take care of that bruise."

Finding the kit in a corner, he quickly stretched to get it and pulled it close, emptying the contents next to him. There must be some salve somewhere- ah.

"That's a muscle relaxant," he started, turning the bottle over to read the instructions. "It should help with the vessels too, it's basically the same stuff anyway."

"Really?"

"No, but you don't need to know that," he snickered, knowing fully well that the relaxant had different ingredients, specially designed for bruises. Sure, the bruises the Alteans had in mind were more on the side of a hematoma, but _that_ was basically the same. 

He opened the bottle and gently scoped a tiny bit on his index.

"Lance," Keith warned, but Lance shushed him with a tut.

He pulled his hair out of his face - holy quiznack, it was so soft - and assessed the damage. He wouldn't need any stitches.

The salve was easily applied and a patch followed suit after Lance wiped off the spilled blood.

"There ya go, was that so bad?"

Keith again grunted, but didn't move away.

"Alright, now Doctor Lance is taking care of that other wound," he continued, patting at Keith's chestplate. "You missing your mom?"

"Please," Keith scoffed. "She's gone for barely a day, I can call her whenever I want and I managed my whole life without her. I can handle that."

"You didn't answer my question."

Silence stretched between them until Keith averted his gaze, glancing to the side. "It's dumb."

"No, it's not," Lance murmured. "She wasn't with you for your entire life and then, you had no one _else_ for two whole years. Now she's gone again and it's only natural to be scared. And she _is_ your mom. I miss mine every day."

Again, they fell into silence, simply hanging after their own thoughts.

"It's weird," Keith started, "A few days ago I wanted a break from her regime and now I wish I had enjoyed it a bit more, especially because I knew how it was without."

"That's what family is like. They are the absolute worst when they're with you, but you miss them the instant they're gone."

A gentle smile broke on Keith's lips. Lance wanted to know what he thought, but he didn't pry. Keith had to sort out things on his own.

And until he managed that, Lance was content sitting across from him, staring at his face and fiddling with his - oh. Were they holding hands? When did that happen? Better not make things weird now. He continued fiddling with Keith's fingers and waited until Keith did something.

Keith's fingers were stubby. Not overly stubby like Hunk or Shiro's, but a bit more stubby than Pidge or Lance's. And powerful. He could feel the muscles moving under the gloves. He wanted to feel whether they were warm or more on the colder side, like Lance's. But the suits prevented that. What a shame.

"Lance?"

Glancing up, he found Keith smiling at him, the fingers curling around his own. 

"Thank you."

Alright, Lance admitted, his heart stopped for a second or two back there. He had some out-of-body-experience and simultaneously felt rooted to the ground.

Keith was _beautiful_.

The gentle smile, eyes like a galaxy, the scar enhancing his facial structures, midnight hair that was so soft - Lance couldn't help but stare.

"Maybe you are a healer," Keith shrugged, but barely managing to break the spell. I'm certainly feeling better. Even though you could work on your methods," he laughed, gesturing to the patch on his head.

"What, didn't enjoy my treatment?" he joked, without really realizing what he did. He still felt like someone sucked his soul out of his chest.

Keith laughed again. "You could definitely use some pointers."

"Pfft, what, now _you_ are a doctor, or what?"

"Are _you_?"

Narrowing his eyes, he murmured "Touché."

Before anything else transpired between them (what even was supposed to _transpire??_ ), the console started beeping again and they flinched around, staring at the intruding sound.

"Alright, I better-" Keith started and as soon as his hand slipped from Lance's grasp and he moved to stand up, he wobbled and fell back on his rear. "Alright, concussion definitely still a thing."

With a sigh, Lance stood up and helped Keith to move him slowly back to his seat. Once seated, Keith accepted the call.

Pidge and Shiro next to her stared at them through the screen.

Without saying a word Shiro passed Pidge a GAC coin, with Pidge cackling madly. 

"What was that?"

" _Well, first we were concerned because Black suddenly lurched to the side,_ " Pidge explained while Keith leaned back, rubbing the bridge of his nose. " _Then, we were discussing whether you were arguing, or-"_

_"-something else,"_ Shiro interrupted. " _Keith, are you okay?"_

"Nothing too serious," Keith simply shrugged. "My head's barely hurting anymore. I just fell weird."

They exchanged a glance, both deciding it was better to not tell Shiro about the concussion. They just had to be careful for the next few quintants.

However, the universe decided that Keith didn't need that, because they soon found themselves in a fairly empty pocket of space.

Then, they got hit by a weird electric current, lost their lions, Keith nearly vomited in his helmet and they floated in the middle of nowhere without a way back.


	3. Home is where the heart is

First, Lance panicked. Only natural after tumbling through the vast of space, without any kind of orientation or lifeline.

Luckily, Keith managed, despite his concussion, to direct them into holding the other tightly, so they won't lose each other. Lance clung to Keith's hand like he was his lifeline

As soon as they stabilized, hooking their arms into the person next to them, he turned his head to his right, where Keith looked visibly pale. He didn't dare to sign out of the communal channel now, but he wanted to check how Keith was feeling.

Well.

"Mullet? How's your head?"

" _ Awesome _ ," came as a dry answer. " _ As long as seeing double counts as normal _ ."

" _ You're seeing double? _ " Allura asked in his back. " _ What happened? _ "

" _Nothing serious. We came against the controls and I fell against a console._ _Can we not talk right now? I'm trying not to barf into my helmet. I'm feeling like Hunk. No offense."_

_ "None taken,"  _ Hunk murmured, " _ I'm feeling kinda barfy myself." _

Silence settled then, but Lance couldn't keep his eyes from Keith. He barely saw his profile, the helmet and hair squished against his face.

He needed to see his eyes.

"Keith?"

" _Not now, Lance, please._ _I'm going to set an alarm,_ " he said, fiddling with his wrist computer. " _It's a technique Krolia and I used to to stay sane. Every varga, you're going to report that you're still with us. That's how we know how much time passes and that's everything alright. Maybe we eventually find something to get us… back._ "

Everyone murmured their approval, but they settled back into silence. Lance used a great amount of time of their first varga to stare at Keith, but his neck cramped, so he turned back forwards again and watched the stars.

Would they ever get back home? Sure, he was anxious to return to earth for various reasons, but just a varga ago, it was still possible and Lance would have had pretty much time to get used to the thought returning into his mother's arms as an Altean.

Okay, his mother most likely knew who their father was. Maybe not the king-part, but at least the alien-part. There was no other reason imaginable why his mother would always dodge questions about their father.

She obviously loved him (they wouldn't have gotten  _ five _ children, after all), but was, according to Marco and Rachel,  _ way _ too understanding and forgiving. So, why would she even support his absence even though she obviously wanted him with them?

Only because she knew that  _ Alfonso _ wasn't human. And  _ Alfonso _ wasn't exactly mortal. It was to protect everyone's feelings. 

Understandable, but by far not the best plan. He would have guessed Alfor would make better decisions, being King of an entire planet and such, but, knowing his father, it sounded like something he would definitely come up with. No matter how dumb it sounded on Lance's end.

So, the first thing he'd do on earth is searching for his father. Then, they will have a nice long chat (Allura coming with him obviously) and then, all three of them will go to his family, so Alfor can explain to his siblings why Lance looked like an alien.

He contemplated visiting home first, but he really didn't want to talk to anyone beside his mom, unless his father was present too. They'd have to sort the mess that was their family.

And then… he's going to grab Keith and introduce him to everyone as well. Keith had no family left on earth and even though he never outright said so, Lance could see that Keith was wary to get back home.

His father was dead and he had no further relatives left. Keith had nothing that held him there.

And Lance will be damned if he let Keith on his own when the whole team was reconnecting with their families. Keith won't be alone on that very important day.

When they made their report, Lance found himself watching Keith's profile again.

He was really looking forward to introducing Keith to his family. Mom will love him. She always scolded Lance for being too childish or too naive. Keith was anything but that and he thought they were balancing each other out real good. Lance was Keith's right hand, after all.

Keith had helped Lance out of some very nasty situation. He liked to believe it was the other way round too.

They were a good team, in and out of Voltron.

He wouldn't mind if their friendship turned another direction.

Blushing, he averted his gaze, even though no one could really see him.

By now, Lance was quite certain, it wasn't only Hunk getting into his head. It was quite easy to…. feel something for Keith. That boy wasn't only devilishly handsome, but also kind and selfless and, since he matured some great deal, even considerate and downright  _ friendly _ .

Don't get him wrong, the boy still grated his nerves and made his blood boil when he stubbornly refused to admit mothman was only a made up conspiracy theory. He made im angry when he insisted training was more important than sleep (except of that one time in Red).

But everything Keith did, said or how he generally  _ looked _ , when he listened, laughed or trained, it made it hard  _ not _ to feel something.

Lance still refused to call it crush, especially with how his last one turned out. But also because he knew Keith for that long… In his opinion, crushes were for people you barely knew. Crushes ruled when you met someone and fell head over heels, then got to know them with the same intention behind them. 

But Keith was his rival. He had been the one Lance wanted to measure up to. He had been the one Lance despised at one point in time.

Then, Lance had been forced to get to know him and found a friend, he could rely on.

'Crush' didn't seem to do him justice. But his feelings were faaaaaaar from the big L-word, so Lance concluded it with 'feelings'.

Lance had feelings for Keith. That was as far as he dared to go. But Lance also felt, that it would easy to develop to the big L-word.

That thought scared him. Not because Keith was male, of course, Lance always knew that he was attracted to both genders. With a soft smile, he remembered how he kissed Jonny Cooper in fifth grade. He got a blue eye afterwards, but Luis and Veronica had sat him down and, after a lecture that Lance couldn't simply run around, kissing people, explained to him that not everyone was attracted to both genders. Lance still wondered how that detail managed to slip by him up to fifth grade. 

Heh. That also made him remember how Claire Murphy kissed him without his permission in seventh grade too. Sure, Lance didn't complain, Claire had been cute and was his first girlfriend, for the entirety of two weeks.

To get over her and to his utter embarrassment, he made out with Daniel Bell in a hallway closet, skipping his english class. Daniel was the only open gay guy in their year and that was why Lance had approached him. That boy had thought Lance wanted to try himself out, it seemed other classmates had also approached him with the same request. It had made Lance stutter and blush and without telling him that Lance actually knew he liked boys, he left, never bringing it up again.

Oh, how young and innocent he had been.

How would they react if they knew they kissed an Alien? The sixth or more  _ Prince _ of Altea? 

It was weird, really. For the past few days, he felt oddly comfortable with his heritage. He had had another deep talk with Allura and felt even proud to be her little brother. She told him of Altea and he wished he could visit some time. Altea sounded awesome. Deep oceans, a culture as old as time. And he was part of that.

It sounded surreal sometimes, but he tried to wear his crown every day, just to get used to the idea. Knowing  _ no _ responsibilities were resting on his shoulders was even more comforting. Being the sixth or more Prince of Altea had really only advantages. You get to be all royal and such, but the responsibilities were on his older sibling's shoulders (namely Allura).

And he had felt guilty when he chatted with Allura and she asked whether he didn't like the crown.

Obviously, he told her no, he loved her present and quickly moved to wear it. 

It had been the truth. Despite his first doubts, he really didn't hate it. He just wasn't used to wear any kind of jewelry, no matter how beautiful it was.

And the crown  _ was _ beautiful. It complimented his skin and facial structures. The blue crystal complimenting his eyes and cheek marks. Coran had really outdone himself in making it. So, he tried wearing it every day.

He even wore it now, even though the corners pressed uncomfortably into his temples due to his helmet.

The crown reminded him of his last prom in middle school. The Garrison didn't do proms, but he was okay with that. However  _ that _ prom was quite remarkable, because his date had been Hope Carter.

She got elected prom queen and that crown had been so ridiculously huge and pompous, he made fun of it and she dumped him. 

He wanted to ask Keith whether he had similar stories of his exes to share. But, communal channel. He had no problem with Pidge and Allura listening in (Hunk already knew them all), but he doubted Keith would be comfortable enough to share his stories with everyone.

With a giggle, he imagined Keith spluttering and blushing madly, not unlike himself when Daniel had asked him if their make-out sated his curiosity. 

" _ Why are you laughing, Lance?" _ Allura asked. " _ You see anything?" _

"No, sorry, was thinking of something."

" _ Lucky you, _ " Hunk mumbled at his side. " _ I'm currently stuck on mourning my life _ ."

"He, buddy, what's wrong?"

" _ What's wrong?! _ " Hunk shouted, making everyone flinch. " _ I can't even start to describe  _ what's wrong. _ How about we're starting with our current situation? _ "

"Buddy-"

" _ We're  _ floating _ who knows where without  _ any  _ chance of rescue, because everyone who we know is stuck in our lions that are  _ offline-"

" _ Hunk-" _ Pidge tried, but Hunk also talked over her.

" _ Or maybe the fact that the whole universe thinks we're dead and therefore no one will even search for us?" _

_ "Hey- _ " Allura.

" _ Or maybe that we ourselves have  _ no _ clue where we are because we're in an area with  _ nothing _ surrounding us. _ "

" _ Hunk- _ " Keith.

" _ I mean we were  _ finally  _ going back home but the entire universe seems to be against us. We lost the castle, Shiro  _ died _ , Lance died,  _ we're  _ going to die-" _

"Okay, that's enough!" Lance mumbled, letting go of Keith to turn and face Hunk, grabbing his helmet on both sides to his best friend was forced to look at him. "Hunk, we're not going to die."

In the corner of his sight, he saw Keith trying to grab for him, but he ignored his motions. "Up to now, we  _ always _ found a way to get out of dumb situations. Remember when we got separated after our first fight with Zarkon? Or how we were chased by Varkon in the Space Mall? That fight with Zarkon where we thought we'd be toast? Narxella? Lotor? We're always coming out victorious, we're the quiznacking Defenders of the quiznacking  _ Universe _ . If we die, it's either when we're old and grey with our douzen grandkids, or in an epic battle with lots of explosions.

"We survived not only the battles, but other stuff too. Keith, being Galra, me, being Altean. Saving Pidge's family, rescuing Shiro. Shay is still out there too. 

"Sure, you're angry and such, and you have every right to be, but we're getting out of this situation too and we're going to go home, understood?"

Hunk only hummed an averted his gaze. Not good enough.

"Honestly, by now, I have the feeling we're the main characters in a TV-show. Our live is so crazy and after Bob, I honestly believe, out there is  _ some _ reality where we're the stars of our own show. And no one ever kills the main characters."

Hunk still averted his gaze, but a small smile spread on his lips. " _ I guess _ ."

"Good," Lance smiled and let go of him, quickly taking Keith's still grabbing hand and drifting back into his position.

" _ You think it's like the Voltron-Show? _ " Pidge asked, a smile in her voice. 

" _ I hope not _ ," Allura groaned. " _ I don't want to be Keith again _ ."

" _ What's wrong with me?" _ Keith complained half-heartedly. 

"Nothing," Lance sprang to his aid.

" _ Why did that come so fast _ ?" Keith argued " _ What do you-" _

" _ Guys," _ Pidge interrupted. " _ No flirting where we can listen to you, I don't want to barf into my helmet." _

That actually made Hunk snicker, so Lance counted it as a win, despite the mortification rushing through his system.

They quickly fell silent again and Lance was left to his own devices. He was concerned for Hunk. He remembered Ms. Graham in seventh grade talking about the five stages of grief. Anger had been the second. He didn't know whether he remembered correctly, but bargaining and depression came next. He would have to watch Hunk. Unfortunately the anger was still very prominent as they were to report the next time and Hunk lashed out.

How long has it been since they got stranded? Several times they already had to report, so they were out for several vargas. 

Lance was hungry, tired and just wanted to get back to Red. He dozed off a few times, even after they had the (maybe) halluzination of the weird birds. 

By the time Keith mentioned they officially passed 24 hours, his mind and stomach were empty.

Really, he was so hungry, he had the feeling his stomach was eating itself.

Adding to that, he was bored. He had already reflected his life choices about two times, thought about his family about six times (including the Altean side) and wasn't even able to count how many times he thought about Keith.

He was really worried about him, especially, when he started to freak. His still very prominent concussion sure didn't make things easier. Hallucinations were a bitch. Lance even thought he saw Kaltenecker floating past them once.

After thirty hours, they all were ready to give up. Keith didn't react to the set alarm, so Lance had to ask to report. They all were on edge and started to doubt everything. 

Would Keith even  _ want _ to meet his family? He left the team once, who told him that he wouldn't leave another time?

Some voice in the corner of his mind told him that his anxieties were unreasonable and stemmed from to much self-reflection and the lack of sleep.

But Keith had  _ left _ the team, left  _ him _ .

He was hurt that Allura and him would never work out, but was it really clever to pursue something with Keith? Keith was a lone wolf, had always been. It was only a question of time when he would be fed up with Lance and leave again.

Two vargas, he felt his heart breaking over a relationship that never existed in the first place.

Then, they started arguing and fought that space deepwater frogfish and  _ finally _ got back to their lions.

Lance was about to drop dead into his bed, but they got teleported into their galaxy,  _ months _ ahead of time. He wasn't ashamed to admit he cried at the sight of their beautiful milky way. It has been too long.

Pidge quickly deduced they still had an hour of travel ahead, so Lance leaned back in his seat, closing his eyes. He needed sleep.

So, he quickly shuffled his plans around to: Eat his own weight in  _ something _ edible, sort things with Garrison (Pidge, Shiro and Keith decided it would be better to check in with them first so they won't get blasted out of the air and could sort things with Sam while everyone visited their families), sleep for a day (maybe Keith was up for cuddles? The time he had to think about everything sorted his feelings a great deal), search Alfor and then visit his family.

He hated that his mom was only only in step four, it should be his first priority, but life didn't always work in your favour.

Except if he could talk Keith into cuddles. That was  _ really _ favourable. 

Talking about Keith: he needed to apologize.

Calling the Black Lion, Keith instantly answered, his tired face appearing on his screen. He too was slumped into his seat, hair mussed up from the helmet with a bruise on his forehead, the patch Lance had placed there yesterday (the day before yesterday?) gone. 

" _ Lance? _ "

Right, he wanted to talk to him. "I'm sorry. About earlier."

" _ It's okay _ ," Keith mumbled, rubbing his hands over his face. " _ We all said things we didn't mean. _ "

Silence settled between them and Lance found himself simply watching Keith. Keith stared back and both were too tired to do anything else, but look at the other. It should have been awkward, but his tired mind, paired with the fading adrenaline from the fight and the sight that was waaaaaaaaay better than the endless expanse of space, it made him sluggish and not caring for something like his dignity in front of the guy he had feelings for.

The lack of Keith's reaction showing a similar process in the Back Paladin. 

"Keith?" he asked, remembering his need for cuddles. "I was wondering- we could use some sleep, you know? And I don't know about you, but after two days of floating in space with nothing to do but think, some… personal contact might be nice, you know? Feeling that there are other people other than yourself and… I was wondering whether we could simply combine both?"

Keith sat there for a few ticks, simply blinking at the screen. " _ Huh?" _

"I mean-" Lance panicked, "I'd ask Hunk, but he hogs blankets and I always get bruises with Pidge. I'm not comfortable enough with Allura or Romelle, so i thought…" He trailed off, not quite knowing how to express himself without sounding dumb

" _ Lance, what do you want?" _

" _ He wants cuddles, _ " Hunk, the saint he was, explained for him. Wait. Hunk?

Both, he and Keith on the other end of the screen scrambled to their consoles, only now realising that the communal channel wasn't muted yet and their entire team had listened in to their conversation. Great. Lance made a fool out of himself in front of the entire team.

" _ Naw," _ Allura complained. " _ Why did you interrupt them?" _

_ "Yeah, I wanted to listen to Lance scrambling through-"  _ Pidge said, but cut off, when he finally found the damn button to mute their friends so they couldn't listen in any further. 

With a groan, he slumped forwards, hiding his burning face in his hands. Maybe he would add dying to his list right before eating. But then, his list would be useless anyway. 

He shouldn't have asked in the first place. His heart was still raw from too much thinking about Keith leaving him.

" _ Was Hunk right? Were you asking to-" _

"You know- forget it," Lance interrupted, avoiding Keith's gaze. "It was a dumb idea anyway."

" _ No, no, _ " Keith mumbled, drawing Lance's eyes to him again. " _ I'd really like to- eh… take a nap with you?" _

He couldn't believe his ears. "Really?"

" _ Of course. I… could really use some human contact too. I'm still a bit hung up about mom and… cuddling sounds nice. Let's sort things out with the Garrison and then sleep, okay?" _

"Sounds like a plan," Lance smiled and sat back in his seat again. "How's your head? We could drop by some actual doctor first?"

" _ Nah, I'm good,"  _ Keith shook his head. " _ I mean, I'm not  _ great,  _ I could really use another massage, that one really helped, but other than that, I'm fine. Extremely tired, though. And hungry." _

"Quiznack, yes! I would even eat Hunk's weight in food goo."

Keith laughed. " _ I would eat kaltenecker in food goo. I have skipped breakfast and lunch before we got ejected." _

Suddenly, Keith's console beeped. He quickly pressed some buttons and his face lightened up. " _ Well, good news. It seems Hunk had a similar thought. Cosmo?"  _ Keith turned around, addressing his Wolf. " _ Can you please go over into the Yellow Lion? _ "

With a yip off screen, the wolf was gone and Keith flashed him that glorious smile again. " _ Hunk has prepared something _ ."

"Thank you, Hunk, the bestest of the best!" He called. "I thought I'd really have to dig into my stash of food goo."

" _ He said it's only something small, because we're about to be home anyway, but it's food, right?" _

That was the moment Cosmo suddenly appeared by his side, the bag around his neck stuffed with glorious food. 

"Oh, you wonderful boy," he cooed ruffling the wolf's head, nuzzling in his fur, he poured all his gratefulness into his patting.

" _ Lance, some of us are hungry too,"  _ Keith reminded him with a small laugh.

Yelping, Lance quickly pulled his portion out of Cosmo's bag and let the wolf go. He waited until the wolf reappeared a few ticks later on Keith's side of the screen and both boys ripped into their packages.

Hunk had prepared some simply sandwiches with who knows what. It tasted awesome and Lance didn't really care about such technicalities when there was  _ finally _ something on the way into his stomach.

He was about to swallow when Keith let out a groan. Not one of his regular groans when Lance said something stupid, no, it was a groan that went directly southwards.

Choking on his sandwich, he barely managed to catch his breath, when his console beeped with an incoming message from Pidge, requesting for them to get back to the group chat.

He exchanged a glance with Keith and both signed back in, without closing the private channel

"Keith and Lance are back online and would prefer not to be commented on," he introduced them and took another bite of his sandwich. It tasted  _ glorious _ .

" _ Can you at least tell us what Keith answered _ ?" Allura asked with a giggle, some more giggling in the background showed then that at least Romelle was listening in as well.

"Nope!! Not telling! So, what's up?"

The entire team minus him and Keith were laughing, Shiro the first to recover. " _ Pidge wants to try to hail earth, we thought you want to listen in?" _

" _ Thank you _ ," Keith murmured, his face impassive.

But when Pidge opened her coms and no one answered they got worried, especially when they got the distress signal that Earth got invaded.

They fired up Voltron’s new wings, only to stop when they finally contacted Sam.

Lance has never been that scared in his entire live. His family, his home, invaded by Sendak, the asshole that was a mayor pain in their ass from the moment they landed on Arus.

They stole a Galra fighter and left the Lions on one of Saturn's moons. He couldn't care to know which one, he just wanted to make sure his family was okay.

When they stepped out, Keith volunteered to fly the fighter, but only after he clapped his hand on Lance's shoulder and murmuring that their nap unfortunately has to wait a tick longer.

Keith was too sweet, but all Lance was able to focus on, was his family in danger.

They crash landed somewhere close to the Garrison, making their way through Plaht City, when they got attacked by the first drones.

He stayed close to Keith, but neither were really in the game, all tired, confused and heartbroken over seeing the city destroyed.

Lance managed to take out the drones just fine, but had to get saved by  _ Griffin _ of all people. 

They piled into the rovers and Lance's heart raced. He wanted to see his family so dearly, fearing the worst as the city drove by. They had long pulled off their helmets and when they reached the Garrison, driving through the tunnel, his nerves skyrocketed. The interior light of the rover reflected his face in the dark backdrop of the window and he got reminded of his different appearance.

He may have kind of made peace with his new face, but would his family? Would Silvio or Nadia even recognise him? What about Rachel? Marco? Veronica or Luis? His mom?

They left the tunnel just when he started to work himself into a panic.

"Lance?" Hunk whispered at his side, "It's going to be okay, you know? We all love you."

Flicking his gaze to Keith and Pidge who stared outside, at the Garrison, he got caught by the sight as well.

It has been so long when they walked these grounds the last time. So much has happened. It felt weird.

The group waiting right in front of the doors as grew closer was huge and Lance quickly shot a glance back at Hunk. His best friend was staring outside as well, searching the group of people for any faces he knew. Lance was scared to do the same.

The rover slowed down and the instant the doors opened, Pidge was outside, her thrusters blasting to get her faster to her parents who quickly rushed up, drawing their daughter into a hug, dissolving into a crying puddle of Holt-family.

Lance and Hunk watched them until a voice suddenly called from behind.

"Uncle Lance!!"

Heaving a sob, Lance turned around and jumped out of the rover as well, rushing up to meet his family. He saw the moment his family realized something was wrong with him. One after the other stopped and he slowed his step as well, tears pricking his eyes.

His mother was the first to get out of her shock, rushing up to him again followed by Veronica, Silvio and Nadia (oh quiznack, have they grown) hot on her aunt's heels.

The three quickly threw him to the ground, he was subbing, when his mom buried her face in his neck, his niece and nephew bubbling somewhere real close to him how cool ('like a princess!!') he looked and Veronica ruffled through his hair.

The rest of their family followed, but Lance barely realized that when Veronica mumbled something that made him stop.

"You look so much like Dad."

"Oh, right, he's so handsome," his mother bubbled, brushing her thumbs over his marks to wipe his tears away. 

"Wait, wait, you  _ knew _ ??"

"Of course I knew, mijo," his mother scolded him, but Lance shook his head.

"I didn't mean you, mom, but you too, Veronica?"

His sister only smiled, crouching down to draw Lance into a hug as well, now that his mom somewhat let go of him. "He told me on the hunting trip. He wanted to tell all of us, but I was the only one who went. I guess he chickened out with you. I… didn't react well."

"Oh, I can imagine," Lance scoffed with a laugh, pressing Silvio, who wriggled into his arms close to his chest. God, how he had missed his nephew.

"Can someone explain?" Luis stood by the side, looking confused and torn. "Lance? What happened… to you face? What are you wearing?"

Huffing out a laugh, Lance shrugged. "I was too close to some magic mumbo-jumbo. Nothing serious. That happens when you're half-alien. And about that crown?" he gesture to his jewel, "that's a present from our half-sister. Speaking of-" he stopped, turning around, finding Allura with Keith and Iverson.

"'Llura!! Come over here!!" he called and she flinched around, trotting over at a much slower pace. "Allura is Dad's first born daughter. Guess you’re not the oldest anymore, Luis. Allura is over ten thousand years old!"

His mother gasped, watching Allura drawing closer. "That's Allura?"

"You know her?"

"Your father spoke often of her and Melenor. Oh, dear," she murmured and was the first one to leave their small group, tugging a very startled Allura into her arms.

"Okay, stop," Marco drew the attention to himself. "You know I'm not the smartest of us, so can  _ someone _ please explain everything a bit slower and more organized?"

Standing up with a smile on his face, he stood straight, fixing the three siblings with a firm gaze. "Dad was not human. He was Altean, the  _ King _ of Altea. He flew from Altea when the planet was destroyed ten  _ thousand _ years ago, leaving Allura and his best friend Coran in a cryopod. From there, he, most likely, hopped from planet to planet until he landed on earth and met mom."

"So…. you are part-alien-prince?" Rachel asked, not keeping up. 

"We all are," Veronica stepped in, ruffling Lance's hair. "Even though that idiot had to go to actual space to find out."

"Can we hug, now?" Lance asked, making grabby motions to the still stunned siblings. "I really missed you guys."

Rachel was the first one to break out into sobs again and rushed to him, his brothers quick to follow. They fell into a pile again, Silvio and Nadia laughing. Lance was  _ so _ happy to have everyone back. He knew his family still had questions, but for now, everyone was happy and the relieve he felt upon having everyone back without the fear of rejection made him so incredibly happy.

Looking back, his anxiety sounded lame. Why would they reject him, only because he looked a bit different? Sure, he had scars and weird alien cheek marks, a crown, but he was still  _ Lance _ . A bit rougher on his edges, but he liked to think he only changed for the better. He was still the goofball that left the Garrison, but a goofball with cool tech and stories to tell.

Lance was finally home.

The next hour was a blur. Introductions between Allura and his siblings went as smoothly as possible, he got another bear hug from his mom, he got fed (some stew made out of like papermaché tasting rations) and got some new, freshly washed clothes. Sure, it was the cadet’s uniform, but he guessed he technically still  _ was _ a cadet.

The major downside: No one has seen Alfor a month prior to the invasion.

However, they had other problems. The first debrief was tiring. Lance stuck close to Keith and Allura and they had barely sat down when they made an excursion to the hangars. Then Sander (he never like that woman) told them they should surrender the lions.

He had to hold Keith back, tightly gripping the boy’s wrist to keep him calm. They split up afterwards, Pidge and Allura hunting Sendak’s memories, Shiro and Coran inspecting the Atlas and Hunk wanted to retreat to the kitchens to get some  _ real _ food.

Honestly, Lance felt bad about the situation. he knew how Hunk was looking forwards to meet his family. He was as close to them as Lance was with his own and it broke his heart to see his best friend this broken. He had tried talking to him, but Hunk refused, brushing him aside.

“Are you concerned about Hunk?” Keith asked, the only one of their team still by his side.

Flashing him a timid smile, Lance nodded. “I’m feeling bad for him. He worked so hard and now he can’t even hug his mom.”

“We’re going to safe them,” Keith said. “I could talk to him later?”

“That would be nice. But let him calm down first.”

Huffing a laugh, Keith nodded, but quickly stopped the motion, his brows drawing together.

“Your head still hurting?”

Keith huffed and shrugged. “It was better for a while, But now…”

“Wanna take a break?” Lance suggested lightly steering him by his shoulder back to the elevator. “I don’t wanna talk to my family right now, it’s been a bit awkward when the sensation of me being back was gone, so I’m kinda avoiding them now. However, Iverson showed us our new rooms, so, maybe I could give you another massage and we can take that promised nap? We have a few hours to the next briefing.”

With little hesitation, Keith followed Lance to his newly assigned room. Sitting on his bed, Lance repeated what he had done in the Red Lion, cupping the sides of his head, his thumbs rubbing light circles on his temples. He could feel how Keith began to relax next to him, humming after a few minutes.

Quiznack. The sound was running directly southwards, tingling in his belly. Did Keith know what he did to Lance? 

Then, he sighed, his breath ghosting over Lance’s forearms and exposed knuckles, and Lance decided that it was enough. Gently easing out of the motion, he let his hands sink. “You up for that nap now?”

Keith hummed without opening his eyes, slumbing forwards. “He Keith,” Lance murmured gently gripping his shoulders to steady him. “You fell asleep?”

“No,” he slurred.

Giggling, Lance guided Keith down onto the mattress. “You still up for cuddles?”

“Sure,” was Keith’s answer, but he buried his head into the pillows. 

“You gotta take off your boots, though,” Lance said, already working on his laces. “I’m not going to cuddle with someone who wears boots in bed.”

Keith only groaned and flopped his legs around, trying and failing to slip them off with his toes on his heels.

“You baby,” Lance scolded and quickly pulled Keith’s legs into his lap, working on pulling off his boots as well. 

Eventually the offending things went off and Lance quickly disposed his crown onto the nightstand and skimmed into the space between Keith and wall, tugging the blanket from under their bodies and tugging them in, Lance buried his own face in his pillow, willing his body to rest, despite his rapidly beating heart. 

“Lance,” Keith murmured, his breath warm on his skin. “I don’t… I never…”

With a huff, Lance peeked out from his pillow, watching Keith struggle with words. Lucky for Keith that he didn’t need them. Lance knew what he wanted to say. Keith didn’t know what to do, the situation was completely new for him and he struggled to comprehend.

With another sigh, he closed his eyes again, collecting all the confidence his tired brain could pull up. “Don’t get your mullet in a twist and overthink this,” he mumbled, snuggling closer. He gently picked up Keith’s arm that wasn’t buried under body and drew it around Lance’s waist.

With all the remaining strength he possessed, Lance nuzzled against Keith’s jaw, the light stubble tingling his nose. But Keith was stiff at his side, his arm around his waist having only minimal contact. “I said don’t overthink this. Cuddling involves actual  _ cuddles _ , so you either relax our you can’t sleep.”

With a sigh after another dobosh or so, Keith finally relaxed, the arm around his waist actually drawing him closer and Keith adjusted his position so he was actually comfortable, his chest pressing down on Lance, where he lied half buried under his larger frame, the hair tickling Lance’s neck. God, that felt  _ good _ . The added weight grounding him and wasn’t suffocating, but felt more like a blanket. Comforting and warm.

“Is that okay?” Keith asked unusually timid.

“Awesome,” Lance squeaked and was glad that his face was already hidden in Keith’s cheek. “Totally cool. Awesome.”

Keith’s body rocked, as he gently laughed, his breath fanning over Lance’s ears. Other than that, neither said anything and Lance fell asleep to the warmth of another body.

When he woke up again, Keith was gone, but the rumpled sheets were still warm and smelled of him. With a giddy smile, Lance buried his face in the pillow, taking a deep breath. He felt rested. He had cuddled with  _ Keith _ and they fell asleep together. His heart took leaps and his stomach rolled in absolute happiness.

It was a bummer Keith didn’t stay so he could scam in some more cuddling, but he guessed he had to ease the lone wolf into it. He was just so immensely happy Keith wasn’t opposed to it.

A knock on his door startled him enough so he flinched up, confused. Maybe Keith came back?

Skipping out of bed, he dashed to the door, opening it to see Allura on the other side. Not that he was disappointed to see her, but… well, he was. Never thought he’d ever say that. “Sorry, did I wake you?” She spoke Altean and Lance needed two ticks to switch to the other language.

“Um…” he shook his head, trying to get Keith out of his head. “No, not really. You look exhausted though, did you sleep?”

“No,” Allura averted her gaze with a small smile. “But I can sleep later. I wanted to ask a favour, though.”

“A favour? Always, what do you need?”

“Well, it’s a bit complicated,” Allura murmured, “How about I show you?”

Nodding he gestured for her to wait a tick. He dashed back inside without closing the door and quickly pulled on his boots and crown, mourning the lost time in his bed, buried in Keith-smelling blankets.

“Have you seen Keith?” Lance asked, ruffling his hair to get rid of his bed hair. 

“Um… no, sorry, why do you ask?”

Gulping he quickly straightened his uniform, averting her gaze. “Oh, nothing particular.”

“You knooow,” Allura sang and he could  _ hear _ the smugness. “The last time I saw him, he was with you, heading over here. Did you get your cuddles?”

He cursed his past self for forgetting the comms. “Um, maybe?”

Allura squealed and threw her arms around his neck, throwing him off guard. “I’m so happy for you!!”

“Nothing happened!” he protested and tried to pry her off. “We just took a nap... together.”

“Oh, but Lance! You know, if you decide to court him-”

“No one said something about courting!!” 

“Yeah, but  _ if _ you decide,” she started, letting go of him and stepped back, flashing him a broad grin. “You have my full support.”

No, Lance didn’t blush. “Thanks.”

Allura giggled and took his elbow, leading him out of his room. “Okay,” he started, “Two questions: Why are we speaking Altean and where are we going?”

“We’re speaking Altean, because I don’t want anyone listening in. The Garrison has no translators and the team’s not wearing their suits. So you, me, Coran and Pidge are the only one’s who will understand. I have found a surprise for Shiro and I don’t want anyone ruining it. We will have to take care of Romelle though. She’s somewhere around and I really like her, but she’s absolutely going to spill. One pair of ears is easier to keep track of though.”

Humming in understanding, he let himself be lead through the Garrison. Eyes followed them from every corner, and now, that he was somewhat rested, he noticed that they were in a completely different wing where they had been during their time here. 

As a student, you weren’t allowed to pass certain points, so he was somehow giddy when he saw one of these points. The door that had been always closed for him, suddenly opened and Allura lead him through. He recognized the area as the research department. A few floors down was the engineering department, he often visited Hunk at.

It was exciting to have full access in his old school. He felt somewhat superior. 

Would it not have been for the eyes. Wherever they passed someone, they stopped in their tracks and followed them with their gaze. Sometimes entire groups stopped and stared. It was uncomfortable.

It didn’t stop him from chatting with Allura in Altean though. Just to show everyone who he had become. Take that, Garrison, one of your  _ cargo pilots _ was the sixth or more Prince of Altea, and he strutted through the hallways with his beautiful sister on his arm and a confident smirk on his lips. Yep, he changed. For the better.

They eventually reached a nondescript room, where Pidge sat in the middle with one of the Commanders Lance knew from the debriefing this morning. Lance waved at Pidge who flashed him a grin and followed him and Allura into a smaller room to their left.

Allura stopped in front of a working bench with robotic limbs.

“Oh, a present for Shiro!” Lance exclaimed. “That’s a great idea! But why do you need me for that?”

“Allura says you are the best man for that job,” Pidge shrugged, easily slipping into Altean as well. Then, she hit his arm full force. “And why didn’t you tell me you were looking into medicine?”

“Ouch,” he complained, rubbing the aching spot. “But I’m not sure about that…”

“Lance,” Allura started, facing him with a confident grin. “You were looking at Coran’s books, right? Because you want to know whether you’re a Healer, right?”

“Yeah?”

“Well, that’s the best method to find out whether you  _ are _ a Healer. They were our doctors and were, among others, responsible for replacing lost limbs. Shiro’s new arm is the perfect possibility to test out whether you have a knack for something like that. 

“I watched you calm down Hunk and treat Keith’s head. You  _ have _ a natural connection to people and what they need. You read a lot about our medicine, and I’m certain, with Pidge’s tech, your medical knowledge and my alchemy, we can build an arm for Shiro that’s even better than his last.

“You want to give it a try?” Pidge added.

He was uncertain. Building an entire new arm was a huge project. Adding, that it was for  _ Shiro _ made it even more important. What if he messed up?

“I already tinkered with those models,” Pidge began, “And constructed a prototype. You wanna see?”

Still not knowing what to do, he could at least look at it. “Sure?”

Pidge pulled him into a corner of the room, where an arm was connected to a running laptop. “I took the basic skeleton from Shiro’s old arm, in programming and in design, so we won’t start from the scratch, but I didn’t take any more, so the Galra won’t be able to control Shiro again. Here,” She took the arm and opened a compartment on the underside of the wrist. “Have a look inside.”

Lance carefully took the arm and turned it around. He had no clue about the tech or the programming, but what he saw looked pretty cool.

“We’re planning to use Shiro’s own quintessence so it could work, but we need a buffer that can translate the human quintessence into electricity,” Allura continued. “That’s my part mostly. A balmeran crystal would be perfect to do the job, but we have none.”

“Well,” he started, not really realizing he was throwing his own idea into the mix. “In normal arms, the signals are running through the nerves. But there are also nearly invisible hairs that are transporting the quintessence. Maybe you could recreate something like that and connect it to your muscles? Where are your muscles? I see only cables.”

Looking up, he saw Allura and Pidge exchange a sheepish glance. 

“Guys, you have planned on inserting muscles, right?

When no answer came, Lance threw his head back with a groan. “Guys, every  _ child _ knows you need  _ muscles _ in an  _ arm _ . That’s not even advanced stuff.”

“Shiro’s old arm didn’t have muscles!” Pidge argued, flushing red in embarrassment. 

“And that’s why Shiro always complained that his arm felt stiff and too light,” Lance explained, placing the arm back onto the table to cross his arms in front of his chest. “If you want to construct an arm, it needs not only wiring, but also has to feel natural. You only get the real feels when it has the same spring in it.”

“That’s why I wanted you to be in on that project,” Allura exclaimed. “So, what do you say?”

He was still reluctant, but neither of the two really knew what to do in the actual medicine part and he wanted Shiro’s new arm to be perfect. He still felt bad that he wasn’t able to talk to him in the Astral Plane. 

“Alright,” he sighed and the girls exchanged a high-five. “But I have to get through some more books. Coran had only stuff about Alteans, but Shiro’s a human.”

“Understandable. How much time do you need?”

“Dunno,” he murmured. “I’m going to raid the library and be back in an hour? I can say more then.”

“Alright, I still need to fix some bugs anyway and haven’t even started with the individual fingers,” Pidge mumbled, turning to her laptop. “Hands are a pain in the ass.”

“Not if you’re stretching enough,” Lance snickered and ran out of the room, followed by an indignant squeak from both girls. Serves them right for roping him into such a ginormous project.

He may have walked the wrong way once or twice on his way to the library (he swore, they moved the walls while he was gone) and eventually settled into the medical corner.

The Garrison’s library was quite equipped, even when they had been students. But it seems they collected every book they got in their hands since the attack, so the wing where it was located was practically overflowing. Many people lingered around, especially in the engineering section, so there was a light hum in the air. Students and mainly refugees mingling around. There were a few people where he wanted to go to, but he didn’t mind them.

It seemed they minded him, though, because the staring started up again.

He had a few books collected, all on anatomy and the nervous system and muscle structure. He was about to contemplate whether he needed another one concentrating about bone structure, when a woman tipped his shoulder.

Turning around, he cocked an eyebrow. “Yes?”

“I was wondering whether you needed help?”

“Ah, no, I’m good, thank you,” he smiled and was about to turn around again, he did need that book, when she spoke up again.

“Are you sure? If you have questions about human anatomy, you should ask one of our doctors. I could show you to the medical ward, if you want?”

That… felt slightly uncomfortable. “Oh, uh, no, thanks.”

“Do you need help with those books then? English is not an easy language.”

Alright-  _ What?! _ Turning around to face her fully, he fixed her with a confused and slightly annoyed gaze. “I know, but I’m good, thanks. I was a student here, so you really don’t have to worry, you know?”

“Oh,” she stopped, her smile dropping into a confused frown. “You were a student here? But you’re an Alien?”

“Only part. I was born on earth and raised on earth. So, I don’t really need help. But thanks for offering.”

“N… no problem?” she murmured, about to turn around and she was already halfway down the aisle when she suddenly gasped and turned around. “Are you one of the Paladins?”

That came out way too loud and suddenly, the entire library was bathed in silence and all the surrounding people stared at the two. Normally, Lance was one for the limelight, but now, he felt uncomfortable.

“Um, yes? I’m the Red Paladin?”

Instantly, every face turned sour. “So you are the reason Sendak invaded earth?” came from his right. A boy around his age. 

“What?”

“Because of you I lost my husband. “ A woman on his right. “What are you doing here? Want to destroy the rest of humanity as well?”

“No, we’re here to help-”

“You could help if you gave Sendak your Lion,” a boy in another aisle. “It’s only a dumb machine.”

“Red isn’t only-”

“What are you doing here?”

“Get lost!”

“Take him to Sendak!”

“STOP THAT!” he roared. He felt the helplessness surrounding him, the anger, the angst. Everything directed at him. It was overwhelming, but he  _ refused _ to back away from a group of scared humans. He was a Paladin of Voltron.

He used the anger directed at him and fuelled his own voice.

The entire library turned silent again, those people that had filed into their aisle stopped, staring at him

“You think you are  _ so _ special. But earth isn’t the only planet terrorized by the Galra. Is whatever they are doing correct? No. Are they  _ nice _ ? No. But Voltron, the  _ lions _ are the only hope for the entire universe.”

He stopped, trying to calm his breath. He needed to focus. A bit calmer, more collected, he continued. “I never wanted to leave earth, my family behind. No one of us had a choice, but the fight against Zarkon, the fight against the Galra was more important.

“They invaded thousands of planets, enslaved zillions of people in a course of thousands of years. Zarkon ruled even before humanity was formed like we know it today.

“The Empire is an unstoppable force, cruel, merciless and evil. But there’s one thing that stopped them, killed Zarkon and his son and crippled the empire in its most vital parts: Voltron.”

He stopped at that, taking another deep breath. “We liberated more planets than I can count, freed more people than Earth ever carried. Voltron will help you, too.

“You just need to trust us, trust  _ your people _ to help you. It’s not the first time we’re dealing with Sendak, but it will definitely be the last. He attacked not only your homes, but ours too. Earth is so important for us and my heart bleeds for you, because we couldn’t be here on time.

“I can’t give you back what you have lost, but I promise you, Voltron is your only chance for a normal life. Voltron is about hope and freedom and  _ life _ . That’s why we can’t give Sendak the Lions. Voltron is so much more than the metal they are made of.

“Voltron won’t let you down, whether you trust us or not. That’s the sacrifice we make every day. Our lives for the entire universe. So you better believe me when I say we’re going to help you. Because we will.”

But he wouldn’t be Lance, if he didn’t end his speech with a little bravado. “So, if you’ll excuse me, I’m about to cram some last-minute stuff into my head, so my team can figure out a plan to actually help you douchebags. Have a nice day, everyone!”

Suuuure, he bend the truth on that last part a bit, but a happy Shiro let to a happy team Voltron. And a happy team Voltron lead to liberating Earth.

Grabbing, his books, he walked down the aisle again. The masses parted for him and he felt quite like a star. Especially as he noticed the anger got replaced by general confusion, hope, embarrassment and uncertainty. Still not good, but definitely better.

Leaving the library, he stumbled through unknown corridors until he found the room where Pidge had set up camp for operation ‘Shiro’s new choppers’ (The joke originated from the Altean word for choppers, that could also mean ‘thirds’. Like his grandma’s third teeth. Lance found that hilarious). 

“You back already?” Pidge commented, frequently tipping on her laptop. “You’re barely gone for half a varga.”

“No, I wanted to cram in here. The library was a bit full,” he shrugged, not mentioning the rude treatment. “Where is Allura?”

Pidge hummed, totally emerged in her work. “With mom. Looking for something that could transport quintessence- quiznak! Why won’t you work?!”

Smiling, Lance turned to his own workload, sorting his books into categories. Bones, Muscles, Others. He guessed the nervous part was Allura’s work, but he planned to read into that as well.

Huffing, he started on the bones. It actually looked like a lot of work, but, comparing his findings to the stuff on Coran’s tablet, he quickly found that Alteans and Humans really weren’t  _ that _ different. 

Alteans had some extra bones here and there (did he?), and the muscles had a bit different texture, but the same basic structure. Same with blood vessels and nervous system. The only actual difference was the skin. Alteans had some weird enzyme that could inflate or deflate at will, change colour and even stimulate hair growth! They were connected to their quintessensuous system. Sure, he didn’t really need to know that for Shiro, but it was interesting! He always wanted to know how Alteans changed their appearance.

The problem was that he didn’t know how the human body was guiding the Quintessence, but that was Allura’s problem.

Skipping back to  _ his _ problem, he looked into muscles and tendons and what was supposed to do what. He barely registered when Allura entered the room, only when she smacked both of them onto their head.

“Ow!” they complained in unison. “What was that for?!”

“I was gone for  _ three _ varga and you two are still hunched over your books? We don’t have enough time. I scheduled an appointment in the medbay for tomorrow morning, right before the debriefing, we have to be ready by then!”

That sounded impossible.

“What?!” They both chorused again.

“Yes, now get your asses over here and work on the actual arm!” she ordered and pulled both out of their seats. “Coran is coming in a few doboshes to take care of the engineering part.”

And indeed, Coran stumbled inside a few minutes later and together, the four of them poured over the arm. They were up half the night, throwing ideas back and forth. Pidge eventually got back to her laptop, figuring out the programming and Lance observed the correct placement of their muscle surrogate. They actually found a kind of springy material he deemed worthy enough to work with some hydraulic mumbo. 

He didn’t get the mechanic part and neither Allura’s, who was busy spreading metal wires covered in some weird lube she got from Colleen to transport Shiro’s quintessence. He barely had time to care about that anyway, because he was busy taking care of the actual arm part, where Shiro’s functioning and very biological body would connect with the metallic arm.

It was a bit difficult figuring out the exact weight it needed to have, but Pidge did a quick math and with a bit of rounding, they settled on an appropriate amount.

Attaching the ‘bones’ would be easy. He had scans from the castle on his holopad, showing Shiro’s current situation. The bones were easily fixed with some screws, but the muscles and nerves were a bit more difficult. 

He couldn’t do much about the nerves, the arm was metallic and metal had no feeling (they had no idea to make it not metal anyway. Every idea they  _ had _ was impossible to accomplish in their current situation) But the muscles were complicated. Shiro’s scans showed massive scarring and he wouldn’t be able to connect the scarred part to the metal without losing mobility. 

His heart sank when he told the others that they had to take away the remaining stump of Shiro’s arm up to his shoulder. By the time he stumbled back to his room, because there was nothing left, he could do, it was three in the morning. They were supposed to meet Shiro at six, to run the surprise by him and the appointment being at eight.

He was really looking forward to see their project being attached. But he also wanted to sleep some more.

However, when he eventually wobbled to his room, he found his door occupied. Keith stood in front of it, in full Paladin armor, his hand raised as if to knock. He didn’t knock however, simply staring at the metal.

Lance couldn’t suppress making fun of him, feelings or not. “Knock, knock,” he said, starting to laugh when Keith flinched around. “What are you doing there, Mullet?”

“I, eh, I was?”

“You were?”

“I was wondering, whether you want… to… eh,” he stumbled, shaking his head. “I was wondering whether you’d like to take another nap together. It was a long day and earlier today I slept really god, so…”

Was he… no way. Was Keith actually asking for another cuddling session? Did Lance fall asleep on the workbench and was dreaming? It felt like that.

Quickly pinching his arm, he yelped. Definitely no dream, Keith was still there.

“Lance?”

“Of course!” Lance bubbled, stumbling forwards to his door. “But not in your armor. Why are you wearing that anyway?”

He walked into his room, Keith on his heels. “Well, I talked to Hunk and we snuck out to search for his parents.”

“What?!” Lance gushed, “No way! What happened? Are they here?”

“No,” Keith murmured, glancing to the side. “They are prisoners in one of the working camps. We couldn’t exactly storm the place, so we went back home. But we know now where they are. That’s good, right?”

“Of course,” Lance nodded, plopping onto his bed. “Hunk must be devastated.”

“He was. I hope we can fight Sendak soon. These working camps… they’re creeping me out. Sendak’s planning something and it’s not good.”

Humming, Lance pulled off his crown, ruffling his hair and rubbing at his temples. The metal always was uncomfortable after long days. “Don’t worry, we’ll get him soon.”

“I hope so,” Keith murmured, trailing off. “And… what have you been up to? I thought you would be sleeping by now.”

“Okay, first of all,” Lance intervened. Keith was far too awkward, standing in the middle of the room like a lost puppy. “You have to change and get comfortable. You can easily burrow a shirt from me again, but you  _ have _ to change if you want to stay here. Second,” he continued when Keith started to strip out of his armor. “That’s a surprise for tomorrow. But hurry up, we’re going to meet the other’s at six, we don’t have much time.”

“At six?” Keith shrieked. “The debrief is at  _ twelve _ . I thought we could have at least six hours of sleep!”

“Nope, not going to happen. Sorry dude. But all the more reason to hurry, because the longer you need, the less sleep you get.”

Huffing, Keith indeed hurried up and Lance pulled two sets of standard Garrison sleepwear out of his wardrobe, throwing one of them to Keith. Turning around, he called up Marco’s mantra: It’s only awkward if you let it  _ get _ awkward, and changed into his pyjamas, crawling into his covers a tick later.

Refusing to look at Keith, he let out a sigh when the mattress dipped behind his back, indicating Keith had climbed in as well. Without opening his eyes, he threw him a corner of the blanket, so Keith could get inside.

With only a bit of hesitation, Keith snuggled closer, drawing his arm around Lance’s waist again and nuzzling Lance’s neck. 

Holy quiznack, he got spooned by Keith. He couldn’t stop the grin spreading on his lips, when he wriggled backwards into Keith’s chest, tangling their legs together. Keith also tightened his hold. This was pure bliss!

However, as soon as they settled, his exhaustion caught up with him and he was out, despite his wish to enjoy their position a bit longer.


	4. Careful, I'm arm-ed

The next morning came too soon, when Pidge, the horrible Gremlin, honked an airhorn right next to his ear. Flinching away from the sound, he knocked his head backwards, colliding with something hard. That something yelped and pulled at him, so both tumbled over the edge of his bed to the ground. Because Lance was the one that had slept at the wall, he fell directly onto Keith, who let out another groan, but held tightly onto him.

Both needed several ticks to comprehend what actually happened with a hysterically laughing Pidge directly next to them.

“Quiznack, that…” she wheezed, “That was better than I anticipated!”

“Oh, haha,” Lance grumbled, his face flushed as he tried to detangle himself from Keith. Keith, who had the same idea made everything all the harder, because they bumped together again and again.

Keith only grumbled and slumped to the ground as they eventually managed to get their limbs free.

"Pidge, what do you want??"

She was still cackling madly, but managed to get her point across: She wanted to fetch Lance for a last check up until they met with Shiro and stumbled upon their  _ situation _ . She even made photos. He scrambled up to wrestle her coms from her, but she was faster, only yelling that they were meeting in five doboshes, he better be ready.

"Sometimes, I hate her," Keith mumbled where he sat next to him. "Anyway, I'm going back to my room, change into my uniform. Meet you in the hallway?"

"Sounds good," Lance yawned and changed into his uniform when Keith had left the room.

Sniffing at his armpits, he really could use a shower. Maybe he'd have some time between the meeting and the actual surgery?

His pinging coms distracted him from worrying about his odeur. Picking up the device, he saw Pidge had send a message. The message only contained a picture.

Keith and Lance. Sleeping. It was actually cute and his heart raced when his eyes travelled over Keith. He had his face buried in Lance's hair, his own fanned over the pillow, the strands mingling with Lance's short locks. The picture was cut just below their shoulders, but Lance knew that Keith had held him tight, the phantom feeling still tingling his skin.

Quickly saving the picture as his new background, he buried his coms deep in his pocket and stepped out of his room, fully dressed.

Keith was already leaning against the wall across from him, fiddling with his comms as well. Did Pidge send him the picture too?

God, Lance felt nervous.

However, they made their way towards the small common area the Garrison gave the team. Nothing much, a table in the middle with about ten chairs scattered around, a small worn out couch in one corner and a broken coffee machine in another. The room didn’t even have windows and reeked of the janitor’s floor cleaner.

When they entered, everyone except of Shiro was present, Hunk and Romelle on the couch, snacking some crackers, Pidge, Coran and Allura were hunched over their finished product on the table. The arm was still connected to Pidge’s laptop and Coran was trying to clip the last of the casing in place.

All five were trying to suppress grins and looked suspiciously unsuspicious. Lance would bet his cookie stash that Pidge had shown them the photo.

“Whoa, is that an arm?” Keith asked, stepping closer, heavily oblivious to the suppressed snickers.

Luckily, Allura was a better actor than Coran or Pidge. “Yes,” Allura answered. “It’s a surprise for Shiro. What do you think?”

“It looks awesome,” he hushed, crouching lower to have a better look at it without touching it.. 

And indeed, Lance was quite proud of their work. The arm was fully functional, even had one or two weapons built in, so he could use it like his old one. The shoulder part was mostly hollow, but wires and a motherboard lookin plate, as well as the bone part stuck out, ready to connect to Shro’s body. Coran took a white alloy for the casing, the same metal the castle ship was made of: Extremely light and durable. They only had had a few scraps, but it was enough to built the arm.

The casing was parted in several pieces, so the arm could flex and move in different direction, so Shiro won’t have any disadvantages. You could see the durable fabric under the plates that held the inner parts, as well as the wires that would channel Shiro’s quintessence in place. I was a similar fabric their undersuits were made of, so it would stretch properly, but protect the interior even in the most horrible battles to a degree. 

They had discussed to make it detachable, but Lance refused to cut any musclework, simply so Shiro could pull it off. The rest of the arm was rather simplistic. Some sort of blade could materialize on his lower arm, or a shield, depending on what Shiro needed. Pidge copied and rewrote the vibrating-glowing-hand thing, so Shiro wouldn’t have to change his fighting style. It would be glowing blue now, though.

They didn’t put anything more in it, afraid that it would get too heavy. It was already very close to match the weight of his other arm, they didn’t want to overdo it. They tried to work with hydraulics and springs, to make the arm more natural, Shiro would even be able to flex. Lance was especially proud of that one.

He found some fabric that was woven with metallic wires in it, that was actually quite close to what muscles looked like. The wiring would be able to conduct the electricity and with a complicated systems of hooks and Coran’s hydraulic system, they created something truly wonderful. Shiro will be able to carry several dozen kilo without a strain on his body.

“We tried to make it as natural as possible,” Lance explained, taking the arm up, so he could show it to Keith. “We even tried to reconstruct how muscles work, you see?” He showed him the Hub were Pidges cables were connected to the main frame. You could see his muscle-y efforts on the side. 

“Wow, Shiro will love that,” Keith hushed, “that’s what you did yesterday?”

“Lance was quite invested,” Coran piqued in, his mustache ruffled in a proud grin. “His medical knowledge was quite important to give it a natural feel.”

The proud smile Keith flashed him made his heart race even harder. Gently placing the arm down, because his hands started to shake, he tried to stammer that he really didn’t do much, but Keith only boxed his shoulder, shutting him up.

“I told you you’re good at this, so take some credit,” Keith scolded him. “Dumbass,” he added as an afterthought.

Suddenly, Allura gasped. “Shiro’s coming, quick, hide it!”

They scrambled to disconnect Pidge’s laptop, who was running a last diagnosis and quickly stood in front of the table to shield the arm on top. Keith’s shoulder was pressing into his, but he barely registered the reassuring pat, because Shiro was stumbling into the room, sleep heavy in his eyes.

He stopped in the doorway, wary of their position. “What’cha doing?”

“We were waiting for you,” Allura started with a grin. “We have a surprise.”

“A surprise?”

The team exchanged a glance and they stepped aside, freeing the view onto the table. Shiro gasped and needed needed a few awfully long ticks to collect his thoughts. “You… built me a new arm?”

“Only if you want it,” Pidge pointed out. “Allura, Coran, Lance and I worked on making it as realistic as possible.”

“That’s… guys, I don’t know how…” Shiro said, his human arm ghosting over the metallic fingers.

“There’s a downside, though,” Lance murmured. “We’d have to take off the rest of your arm up to the shoulder to connect it properly. You don’t have to take it, you know…”

“I want it!” Shiro exclaimed, flashing them a huge smile. “Guys, I can’t express, how… that’s so…”

“It’s okay,” Pidge laughed. “You’re welcome.” Then, she fell into an elaborate explanation what the arm was able to do and what not. 

All the time when she explained something was Lance’s idea, Shiro flashed him a confused, but grateful smile. Hunk, Romelle and Allura retreated to the couch, chatting silently and Allura stood back, with Coran throwing in a comment or two. Lance simply stood by the side, Keith still standing close to him in silent support.

“Lance, I didn’t know you were interested in anatomy,” Shiro eventually commented, his eyes sparkling in happiness.

Smiling bashfully, he shrugged. “Well, it’s some kind of Altean thing, actually. I picked up one or two things.”

“That’s not only ‘one or two things’,” Shiro laughed. “You did really well. You all did. Thank you so much.”

With a sigh, Lance leaned back, stumbling a bit against Keith. “You okay? You look a bit green. You know you’re the  _ Red _ Paladin, right?” 

“Haha,” Lance mumbled, elbowing into Keith’s ribs, who started to chuckle. “No, it’s just… I wanted to do something for Shiro. I was scared he wouldn’t like it.”

“Don’t worry, he’s loving it. I haven’t seen him so excited since Adam said yes to marry him.”

“Waaaaaaait,” Lance hushed. “Shiro’s married?”

“Oh,” Keith uttered. “No, actually, he was only engaged when he flew to Kerberos. Adam died during the first attack, so, no, not really.”

Humming, he turned his head back to the gushing Pidge, showing Shiro all the features his new arm is going to have. “I’m sorry.”

“You didn’t know. However, Shiro really likes the arm, don’t worry.”

“Woah,” Shiro suddenly exclaimed when Pidge let him pick up the arm. “It’s heavy.”

Luckily, Coran jumped in. “It’s another thing, we wanted to make as realistic as possible. We guessed the weight of your human arm and tried to match it.”

“Awesome,” Shiro exclaimed. “The old one was too light, my back hurt, like, all the time.”

“You have to be careful, though,” Lance warned. “Your shoulder needs to get used to the weight again and you have to take care of the strain on the muscles and your bones. Take it light for the next few weeks, I’d say. You don’t want to get it reattached.”

“Alright, Doctor McClain,” Shiro joked and gave the arm back to Pidge. “When can I get it on?”

“Lance and I have a scheduled appointment in a few doboshes with the Garrison’s medical personnel. Your appointment is at eight,” Allura said and taking the arm from Pidge. “We’re going to prepare everything. Lance?”

“Coming,” he murmured and stepped out of Keith’s warm bubble. He hadn’t realized they stood that close the whole time.

:

When Keith found him about a varga later, Lance had an existential crisis. He somehow hadn’t thought things through.

“Lance? You okay?”

“No!!” he exclaimed, slumping down the seat he sat in. “I’m doomed, Shiro’s doomed, you’re going to hate me because I fucked things up.”

Keith only chuckled and fell into the seat next to him. “Well, it’s nothing new that you fuck things up,” he shrugged. “And you somehow managed that I actually don’t hate you. What’s your problem this time?”

Groaning, Lance donked his head against Keith’s shoulder, needing the contact. “Allura insisted that I’m assisting Shiro’s surgery. The doctors shouldn’t have a problem attaching the arm, but Allura said I could a, learn a good deal, and b, jump in in case of emergency. To sum it up: Shiro’s going to die and it’s going to be my fault.”

“Wow, that’s pretty serious.”

“I knoooow,” Lance wailed. “But I can’t bail out now.” Gasping, he sat up again, his blood draining from his face. “They are going to chop off Shiro’s stump and I’m going to see it up close.”

He normally had no problem with blood, but aside from a scraped knee or the cut of a knife, Lance has never seen overly much blood. Shiro’s going to bleed, right? “I feel sick.”

“I’m definitely not jealous of you,” was Keith’s very helpful comment. “But, I know for a fact, that everything’s going to turn out all right.”

“How?” He wailed, burying his face in his hands. “I’m going puke as soon as they tell me to enter the room, I know it.”

“Maybe,” Keith laughed, his hand starting to rub his back. “But have I ever told you about what I saw in the Quantum Rift?”

Okay, weird change of topic, but okay. “No, what’s with that?”

“You know that the Rift had a weird time dilation, so Krolia and I were there for two whole years when only a few days passed for you, right?” Lance nodded. “But that’s not the only time related thing the Rift caused. Every few hours, a wave of sort passed through the Rift, showing us pictures of our past and future.”

“What?” Lance asked, fixing Keith with his gaze. “How?”

“I don’t really know. The problem was though, that the future it showed only a  _ possible _ future. In one, I saw Pidge dying in an explosion, and the next showed her with her grandkids, telling stories about Voltron. In one we were about thirty and still fought Zarkon. It was a bit tiring, honestly.”

“Really? How much did you see?”

“Not much, really. Only glimpses. One or two ticks maximum. But it was enough, to get the point across. And you know what?” A tick silence where Lance simply stared. “I saw Shiro dying multiple times. In a crash with a fighter jet, blowed up from a malfunctioning gun and old and wrinkled in his sleep. But I saw not a single one where something happened with your arm.”

“You saw the arm?”

“Well,” Keith shrugged. “Different versions of it. Some looked quite similar, others not so. But I didn’t really pay attention to it. The point is: Nothing is going to happen to Shiro in that surgery.”

Huh. That was actually quite comforting. “What else did you see? Did you see me dying too?”

Keith actually cringed at that. “Yep. Saw everyone. I really hope it’s none of the more violent ways though.”

Humming, Lance watched Keith’s posture drop. He couldn’t imagine seeing his team dying again and again.

“The Rift only focussed on things that were important to us, you know? I saw some happy stuff, too, some-” he suddenly flushed red, averting his gaze. “Some really good stuff. But only with people that I am close to. Only people I really care about.”

Was this the reason Keith suddenly made an effort? It didn’t slip past Lance that Keith was actually trying to be friends with the team since he came back. He wasn’t as closed off and actually joked around with them instead of standing in a corner, brooding. Lance was proud of him. It definitely couldn’t be easy for him to get out of his shell.

Smiling, he drew him into a sideways hug, burying his face into Keith’s shoulder. “We care about you too.”

Keith turned a bit and returned the hug as much as it was possible. His hand was fisted in Lance’s uniform, his face nuzzling into Lance’s hair.

They sat like that for several minutes, until Allura came around the corner, calling for Lance. They sprang apart and Lance jumped up, his face flushed red. He should pay better attention to their surroundings.

“It’s time, Shiro’s getting sedated,” Allura said, oblivious to their blushes. “They are waiting for you.”

“Thanks, Allura, I’ll be there in a second.”

Allura nodded and skipped back, leaving both boys behind. “Keith? Thank you,” Lance smiled and followed her.

The actual surgery was… okay. He felt queasy, but soon found that it wasn’t  _ that _ bad. It was only a weird sight and feeling in his stomach, that he blamed entirely on his nerves. He didn’t have much to do anyway, only held some tools and watched Shiro’s stats.

Halfway through the actual attachment, he felt another weird feeling in his stomach that had nothing to do with his nerves. Something wasn’t right. They had already screwed the bones into their metallic counterparts and were halfway through attaching the metallic muscle to Shiro’s muscle fibres with the hook-thingies, when Lance tried to pay extra attention.

His stats were stable, but something was wrong. Something about Allura’s quintessence wires-

“Wait, stop,” Lance murmured, trying to get the Doctor Palmer’s (the douche that was performing the surgery) attention, but another assistant only hushed him. Throwing a glance at Sam Holt, who was otherwise distracted, he huffed in annoyance. Didn’t they see that they made a mistake? “No, you have to-” he started again, but got interrupted, when Shiro’s stats suddenly fell and he started to have convulsions.

Without thinking, he bellowed the order to hold Shiro still and shoved Doctor Palmer away, making quick work to undo whatever he had done in the past dobosh, unhooking the wires and freeing Allura’s wiring, placing it the way it was  _ supposed _ to sit. Allura had explained that part more than often and Palmer didn’t listen, said he would do it easily.

With a huff, he quickly corrected his mistake grabbing for some more of Colleen’s salve to spread it over the rift to help the quintessence flow. It was some kind of out of body experience. He had the feeling he could actually  _ see _ the quintessence flowing, even though there was nothing there when he blinked. But he knew where riffles were and how to make it flow more naturally. 

Lance took the scalpel again, quickly cut pieces that would cause problems later on and attached the hooks with a precision that even scared him. He was always proud of his stabile fingers, he wasn’t a sharpshooter for nothing, but he had the feeling only now, he was able to use their full potential. Halfway through the surgery, some part of his brain registered that he indeed was a Healer, but he couldn’t care about that now.

Shiro stabilized again and Lance quickly finished up, pushing Pidge’s main frame, a little chip that trailed into the inner parts of the arm, into a little pocket he cut under Shiro’s skin and then clipped the entire arm into the hooks the doctors had attached to the bones and Shiro’s skin as the first step of the surgery. He needed help with that last part, they had constructed it as a really tight fit, so Shiro won’t lose the arm halfway through a battle.

But when the arm was attached and lay limb next to Shiro’s body, just as it was supposed to be, Lance raised his hands and stepped back, uncertain whether he did alright. That was the moment, he realized what he had just  _ done _ .

Back were the nerves, making his stomach roll in displeasure. He felt sick. Especially when he noticed that his hands, clad in rubber gloves, were red with smeared blood. He had to concentrate not to puke when he remembered what he just did: rummaging around in Shiro’s arm.

That’s why he flinched when Sam Holt put his hand on his shoulder. “You did well, Lance.”

He croaked a thanks and stiffly walked out of the room, without looking back. The others could clean up, he had done his part.

Lance quickly stripped out of the medical suit, shivering when he dumped everything in one corner to dash to the sink, spitting into the sink. He felt nauseous, but luckily, his stomach kept the little breakfast he gulped down right before the surgery.

Gulping down fresh air, he started to wash his hands even though they weren’t dirty at all. A bit sweaty from the gloves, but clean. However, he scrubbed until they were red. The other’s from the medical team filed into the room, some threw comments his way, but he barely registered the voices surrounding him. He noticed Sam, patting his shoulder again, but he stayed there until he was alone again. 

He had long stopped shrubbing his hands, but let the water simply run over his fingers.

Despite his first reaction to puke, he felt a weird sense of satisfaction. Once, his stomach calmed down, he could actually reflect on what he did. He, as in Lance McClain, sixth or more Prince of Altea, goofball and ‘dumb-one’ just performed a complex surgery without having a clue what he  _ did _ . 

He knew doctors had to study for years to get to this point. And now, here he was, having not finished High School (The Garrison program was functioning as a High School and with finishing the basic training, you also got your High School diploma. He never finished the basic training due to Voltron, so he had no diploma) and with only basic medical knowledge, simply because he read some books. 

It was astounding. And had felt so natural. He knew, space was were he belonged, but doing that surgery was (once he would get used to the gross part) what he actually wanted to do. 

“Lance? Are you okay”

Flinching around, he found Keith standing in the entrance. He quickly shut the faucet off and flicked his hands dry. “Hey, Keith. Yeah, I’m good, just… thinking about stuff.”

“If it helps,” Keith started, “They ran some diagnoses and everything looks good.”

“That’s cool.”

He turned and gathered his stuff that was still in a heap in the corner and deposited everything in the correct bins. All the time, Keith was silent watching him.

“I came to fetch you. Shiro will wake up in the next few minutes and we thought you wanted to be there.”

“Um, yeah, let’s go,” he murmured, still not really there. The memories and the weird mixture of nausea and accomplishment made for a weird cocktail. 

When he wanted to brush past Keith to get to the hallway, he got stopped. First, Keith took only his elbow, tugging him back and when he stumbled against his chest, his arms drew around his frame, holding him tight.

That was actually the first real thing his brain registered properly. He hugged Keith. Not only a passing, or fleeting ‘throwing my arms around you and let you go after a squeeze’-hug, but a bone-crushing, deep and important hug.

Ignoring his inner voice that was squealing, he drew his own arms around Keith’s waist too, fisting the uniform tightly and buried his face into Keith’s neck. He didn’t know he had needed that, but,  _ god,  _ that took a massive amount of stress from him.

“You did very good,” Keith murmured into Lance’s neck, his breath going over Lance’s exposed collar, because he hadn’t had put on his jacket yet. “I was so scared for a tick, but then you saved the day. I’m so proud of you.”

Okay, that was too much. His nerves couldn’t shoulder Shiro nearly dying because of a shock, performing a surgery, being coated in Shiro’s blood because he had rummaged around in organs (yes, he counted muscles as organs), actually  _ enjoying _ to be useful with the accompanying epiphany,  _ and _ a mushy Keith. Tears sprang into his eyes and he sniffled, taking in a deep breath of  _ Keith _ . He didn’t know why he started crying. It definitely were no happy tears, but also no sad tears. He guessed it was simply because it was too much in a too short amount of time.

Once Keith noticed Lance was crying, he even tightened his hold, gently shushing him, murmuring that Lance had done good and that Shiro was fine. His reassurances made him only cry harder.

Quiznack, he needed to get a grip. But it felt so good to have a good cry and he  _ finally _ knew who he was. It had only been a few movements, but that surgery had clicked a piece into a place of his soul that had been empty, without him knowing it had been empty. And now, Keith was hugging him, yes, his tears were definitely happy tears.

It grounded him and cleared his head, so he was able to function properly again.

“Thank you,” he sobbed and reluctantly pulled away. He wanted to see Shiro. “That helped,” he laughed tearily, rubbing at his sore eyes. “Can we go to Shiro, now?”

“Of course,” Keith smiled, but didn’t really let go of him, still touching his shoulder. “Are you really okay?”

“Yeah, I’m good,” Lance nodded. He took a deep breath and nodded. “I’m good. Let’s go.”

“Okay,” Keith flashed him a smile.

They stepped into the hallway and Lance finally pulled on his uniform jacket, trying to conserve Keith’s warmth. Shiro’s room was only a few doors down so they really didn’t have to walk far, but he was tired again.

However, when they wanted to enter and already heard excited voices inside. Exchanging a glance, they entered and found everyone talking at once. Shiro was already awake, flexing his new hand with a huge grin.

“Lance!!” Hunk suddenly called his name and he got swallowed by the massive form of his best friend. “Oh, man, dude, that was so awesome!” Letting him go, Hunk flashed him a huge grin. “I didn’t know you could  _ do _ that!”

“Me neither,” Lance laughed and stumbled into the room when Keith pushed him from behind.

“Lance!” It was Shiro. “The others told me what happened. You did a good job.”

“How’s it feeling?”

“Good.” Shiro smirked, watching his new hand open and close. “Unusual, but good. It’s indeed a bit heavier than I am used to, but I don’t think it’s going to be a problem. Look!”

He didn’t only flex his hand, but also raised it a bit and actually flexed his new biceps. The casing moved properly over the fabric and ran smoothly back in place.

“I need to train a bit, my shoulder still feels tender, but I think it’s going to be good.”

“I have a special treatment prepared that should speed up your recovery,” Allura explained, placing a hand on his uninjured shoulder. “It should be as good as new in a few quintants.”

“Awesome,” Lance smiled, stepping to the bed. “But be careful until then, you should wear a sling until your shoulder gets used to the new weight. May I?”

He needed to see how it moved and if anything didn’t sit as it was supposed to be. 

“Sure.”

“Tell me if something hurts or doesn’t feel natural.” Gently taking the elbow, he raised it on shoulder height, watching the attachment on the shoulder move accordingly. He then took the hand and raised it above Shiro’s head. 

The man flinched, but shook his head. “It’s tender, but good.”

“‘kay,” Lance sung, doing a few more exercises until he was satisfied everything was good. “Tell me or Pidge if something’s not working, ‘kay?”

“Will do,” Shiro smiled proudly. “You know, you’re really good at that.”

Laughing awkwardly, he stepped back. “Thank you.”

Keith suddenly was back at his side, elbowing his ribs. “Told you so.”

Glancing around, he found every gaze on him, proud smiles directed at him. “Well,” he chimed, “I guess I’m a Healer.”

Chatter started up again as Allura dashed to him, drawing him into a tight hug, Coran following instantly. “You know, my mother was a Healer,” he babbled and Allura nodded along, telling him that their grand-grandmother had been one as well.

They chatted for several more seconds until a nurse threw them out, exclaiming that Shiro needed rest so he could take part in the debrief at noon. They had two hours to kill, so Lance called dibs on a shower and raced back to the barracks. Everyone was laughing when the elevator door closed behind him and he was alone again.

Lance took a deep breath. He was a Healer.

:

After his shower he took some much needed time with his family, cuddling Nadia in his lap, teasing Rachel and joking with Marco until Allura came to fetch him for the debrief.

They planned to raid the Galra outpost and Lance squeezed in another short check-up with Shiro’s arm and made his way back to his room, trying to catch some much needed rest. Unluckily, Keith was nowhere to be found, so he took his nap alone, buried in the pillow Keith had used last night.

He would have to ask him whether he wanted to share the bed again tonight.

The wakeup call came way too early, but was actually quite comfortable. Keith sneaked into his room and under his covers, poking his cheek until Lance was awake enough to comprehend full sentences.

To be honest, Lance first thought he was dreaming and cuddled close to him, throwing his leg over his hip and murmuring against his neck. He didn’t know what he was talking, but it surely would have been embarrassing.

Eventually, his brain caught up with the situation and he flushed red, scrambling to get out of bed and ready for the mission.

Sure, the Zaiforge cannons they found were more than disheartening, and the meeting directly afterwards was more exhausting than the actual mission (Sander is still a bitch) but by the time, he stumbled back to his room, Keith was with him again, both falling into the covers, exhausted. 

The next morning came slow. Someone was nice enough to let them sleep in, the launch for their next attack at noon and they had full twelve hours of rest. Around ten thirty, Lance blinked his eyes open and found Keith’s face directly in front of his.

He was already awake, greeting him with a lazy smile. “Mornin’.”

Lance only sighed and closed his eyes again, nuzzling forwards into Keith’s cheek. “Nope. Still sleeping,” he murmured. He was so comfortable. Waking up meant standing up. But who wants to stand up when they could cuddle with the guy they had feelings for?

Keith’s body rocked when he chuckled and drew Lance closer and throwing his arm around Lance’s neck. Lance too raised his hand from between them up over his chest and back, fisting Keith’s pyjama just below his neck.

By now, Lance was fairly certain Keith wasn’t  _ opposed _ to a deeper relationship. He didn’t know how deep Keith’s feelings ran, but he wasn’t dumb. There was definitely  _ something _ going on. You don’t hug and cuddle someone you only want to be friends with.

Two years ago, Lance would have gotten self doubts, but his year in space, coupled with the new confidence he gained with being an Altean prince, he felt more secure, more grounded. And this allowed him to actually enjoy the time right before dating, the awkward dance where neither has confessed yet.

It was thrilling and nerve wracking. But in a good way.

Smiling against Keith’s cheek, he nosed the light stubble on his jaw, enjoying the tickling.

“Someone’s in a good mood,” Keith commented, the rumbling of his voice a thrill that raked through his stomach.

“Dunno,” he joked. “I’m sleepin’ in a bed with an extremely handsome guy. Who wouldn’t be in a good mood?”

“A homophobic insomniac?”

Snorting, Lance ducked down into Keith’s neck, as if to hide his face. “Do I look like a homophobic insomniac?”

“More like a narcissistic maniac.”

“Thank you, you plantoric napplesack.”

Keith’s laughter rocked them back and forth. “That doesn’t even exist.”

“Yes, it does,” he argued. “Have you never seen a napplesack? Or someone who’s from plantora? They’re a pain in the ass.”

Ceasing his laughter, Keith murmured: “You’re a pain in the ass.”

Ooooh, what a great innuendo. “I could be if you want.”

When Keith suddenly stiffened, Lance thought he made a mistake and wanted to take it back, but Keith only huffed another laugh. “Too bad that I want to be in  _ your _ ass.”

Alright, that brought pictures and a warm feeling in his belly. He didn’t want to pop a boner while still cuddling Keith, so he changed the topic. “You, uh, excited for today’s mission?”

Keith chuckled again, but took the bite. “I’m confident.”

:

They were suited up again and Lance readied with Veronica the rover, when Allura fell into his arms. “Stay safe out there, Lance, okay?”

He laughed and squeezed her back. “You, too, ‘Llura.”

“Take care of him, Veronica!” she shouted and received a thumbs-up from their sister. Seemingly satisfied, she ran back to her own MFE jet, freeing the sight of an awkward Keith.

“Keith?”

“Uhm…” Keith mumbled and added something under his breath. It was so different from this morning’s behaviour, Lance got really worried.

Stepping down, he hurried up to him.”Keith? I didn’t hear you, can you repeat that?”

Keith fixed him with a stern gaze. Lance saw the desperation and anxiety behind his lilac eyes and couldn’t help but worry even more. “Keith?”

The other boy drew him into a tight hug, taking a deep breath. “Stay safe, okay?” he said, his voice breaking. Now, Lance was actually freaking out. What happened in the few doboshes they were seperated?

“Keith? You’re worrying me.”

Reluctantly, Keith drew back, his eyes wandering across Lance’s face. Then, he gently cupped his cheeks and drew closer. Lance thought he was about to kiss him, but he only touched his forehead to his. “Just… be careful.”

Suddenly it clicked. “Did you remember a vision from the Rift? Is anything going to happen?”

“No,” Keith murmured, but both knew it was a lie. “But come back to me in one piece, okay?”

“‘kay,” Lance mumbled. “You, too, Samurai.”

“Always.”

Then, the unspeakable happened. Keith moved even closer, his breath fanning over Lance’s lips as he moved to the side, placing a tender kiss to the corner of Lance’s mouth. Not a real kiss, but close enough so Lance drew in a sharp breath, his heart bruising his chest.

When Keith drew back and turned around, popping his head into his helmet, Lance felt whoozy. His toes and fingers were tickling and his head was way too light for his body.

“He liiiiiiiikes you,” Veronica teased from the rover and everything Lance managed to respond was “Shut up!”

:

They were driving through the desert, Keith still on his mind as Veronica teased him endlessly.

It was when Sam Holt held his short speech as they were drawing closer, the mood sombered and Lance tried to actually focus on his mission. It was hard at first, but he still felt the connection to his lion.

Red was still a presence in his mind, a soft rumbling, so much different than Blue’s had been. Red was warmth, spreading through his veins like molten lava, setting everything on fire where the thick molasses touched. 

Lance let the sensation fill his body, getting a grip on the presence behind, the ancient creature lurking in the unstoppable stream of-

Just when he thought he got a grip on his mighty companion, the world around him shifted, an explosion setting the rover off course. 

“Watch out, okay? Be careful,” he shouted, searching for the disturbance in the distance.

With a grunt, Veronica uttered an “I know!”, but instantly they were attacked again by the fighters shooting at them. Veronica tried her best to not get hit, driving in snakelines to throw them off. Lance had to hold tight on his seat and the console to not get thrown through the rover by every curve. 

They found them, how was he supposed to call Red in all this chaos?

“ _ Lance! Where are you? _ ” Dammit, Shiro, they had other problems!

Glancing out of the window, he saw another fighter hot on their heels. He tried to shout a warning at Veronica, but then, their tires exploded and everything was a mess as the rover tumbled over and he lost consciousness as his head connected with the console in front of him.

He guessed he only survived because of his helmet, because as he woke up again, his visor was splintered and he felt cuts all over his face, blood or whatever dropping down his chin.

Urgh, he felt like he fell out of the rover and got flattened by a truck. Three times.

Gulping, he tried to focus on the words that came through his comms, cracking and kinda broken, but still recognizable. Many people were shouting his name and he couldn’t make them all out because of the ringing sound and rushing in his ears, but the most prominent one was Keith, who shouted at him to answer or he’s going to fly over and kill him. Hah. Yeah, he’d have to get in line for that, because the next fighter was zapping over his head, everything only a lilac blurr.

“‘m good,” he quickly muttered. “Will be a bit late though.”

Groaning, Lance tried to stand up, but found that he was not able to. With a whine, he turned around to find what was keeping him pinned. The rover was on its side, the back half blown apart and smoking. The other half had decided to bury Lance under its weight, halfway in the sand.

His entire lower half was buried with it at an awkward angle so most of his left side was free, but his right was kind of crushed. It was only the roof of the rover that pinned him down, though, so that was a plus. He could wriggle his feet in the interior some, his armor must have protected him from most of the blow.

The ringing ceased too and his head cleared.

However, something in his right side didn’t feel as good as it was supposed to feel. Unable to assert the damage, he grunted, trying to shove the rover off, without success.

“Lance!!” Veronica suddenly shouted and hurried over to him, murmuring something under her breath.

“Veronica! You’re okay,” he smiled, but grunted when she threw her weight against the rover.

“You don’t get to be relieved when you’re still pinned and-”

She got interrupted when suddenly blasters shot against the rover’s roof, barely missing them. Running on instinct, Lance pulled up his shield and protected himself and his sister, despite being pinned by the rover. Snatching Veronica’s blaster, he twisted as good as he was able to, steadied the damned thing on the ground and shot past his shield, taking out a few sentries.

However, a shadow suddenly drew close. Another fighter whose blasters were already plowing through the ground, drawing closer at an incredibly fast pace.

With a whine, he pulled back behind his shield, drawing Veronica’s arm (the only part of her he could actually reach) closer, praying that they won’t be hit full force.

Someone must have heard his prayers, because suddenly, everything was coated in extreme heat, he called in agony, but the quiznacking rover got shot away from him, leaving him kind of free to move.

He barely had time to roll to his knees, ignoring the searing heat in his abdomen. Readying his Bayard, he finally could reach, he shot his first blasts against the still nearing fighter, but quickly saw that it won’t do any good.

In a last ditch effort, he closed his eyes, screaming at Red to  _ save _ them, he couldn’t fight against a rapidly approaching fighter on his own, injured, scared and helpless.

The shadow of the fighter coated them in darkness and suddenly there was a crash, heat and dust and metal flying past him. Once the dust settled a sob escaped him when Red loomed over them, a playful lick of fire soothing his anxiety. God, he loved his lion.

Then Red roared as if to echo his feeling.

With a laugh he stumbled to his feet and climbed inside with Veronica on his heels when Red lowered his jaw.

“Red Lion checking in,” he chirped into his comms, starting Red up. Cheering tumbled through his cracked comms as all six bases were attacked simultaneously. 

However, it was clear pretty fast that they had apprehended their attack. Way too many battleships were ready to slaughter him, raining them in a shower of fire. He got jostled through his cockpit as he tried to evade, barely getting in a shot for himself. They were everywhere.

Then, the Zaiforge cannons started up and launched into space. They were too late.

Even with Voltron they really struggled to get the upper hand, blown apart with six cannons firing at them at the same time. Then, everything turned dark.

_ He stood in a room, lilac lights covering the walls. Everywhere were weird kinds of tools and tubes, everything connected to a figure that hung in the middle of the room. Arms and legs chained to the roof and olding the figure mid air. _

_ White hair, fuzzy and darkened with blood in parts. Pointy ears. Baby blue. _

_ “Red?” _

Lance woke up alone in a cell, his head about to combust, his side reduced to a burning throb, that made him feel as if his liver got exchanged with burning stones.

“Lance!?”

“‘m here,” he murmured, trying to sit up. His arms wobbled, but somehow managed to hold the weight of his upper body. 

One after the other, they reported back in. After Lance’s senses managed to get back to focus, he glanced around, finding himself in a Galra prison cell. They got captured by Sendak.

Awesome.

With dread, he noticed some slick running down his thighs. Dark red slick.

What a great Healer he was, getting injured and in need of medical help the second he stepped out of the Garrison. Well, first of all, he needed to assess the situation as the others babbled in his ear about what happened. He tried to pry off his chest armor, the clasps difficult to loosen because his hands shook and were slick with his own blood from when he had pressed into the wound earlier.

However, the armor eventually gave and tumbled to the floor of the cell. Quickly peeling the undersuit off too, he hissed at the amount of damage done to his left side. The was a large gash running from hip up to just below his ribs, the edges ragged and ripped, most likely thanks to the rover. 

The surrounding area was turning a sick green-blue, a massive bruise from the force of his ripped side. Yep, he definitely needed stitches.

“ _ Lance? Are you okay? Are you hurt? _ ” came through his comms. Hs groans must have been louder than he anticipated, worry lacing Keith’s tone. How sweet.

“Well,” he answered, looking around his cell for anything he could use. “Earlier, Roni and I had some problems, but I’m fine.”

“ _ What do you mean, ‘you had problems’? _ ”

“Nothing serious. Need some stitches though.”

Lance quickly dismissed his search for anything medical. The Galra surely had learned not to leave anything in in their cells. Damn Sendak.

“ _ Nothing serious?” _ Allura. 

“ _ What happened?”  _ The panic in Keith’s voice was kind of endearing.

“Yeah, nothing I can do about,” he murmured, struggling to get the suit back on. “Really, I’m fine, we have to get out of here. Soon. Earth’s in danger.”

“That might be my fault,” a feeble voice came from outside. Lance recognized that voice. 

“Admiral Sander?!”

Alright, the Admiral’s participation was a surprise. Sure, she was always a bit snobby and thought herself superior. And she wanted to give the lions to Sendak to save earth. On second thought, it wasn’t overly surprising.

Suuuuure, she thought she was doing the right thing, but all of humanity’s snobby attitude was getting on his nerves. Didn’t they get they weren’t the only ones in danger? They were already in the middle of saving them, why did Sander feel the need to stab in their back?

However, they at least had time to focus on the bond to their lions and managed to connect to their lions and blast a hole into the ship. It was a weird experience, really. Some part of him knew he was still on the ground of his cell, but every single one of his senses was in his lion. 

Ripping the controls around, he and Red waved through the fighters directly ahead of Red’s maw. 

And suddenly, they had a plan. Black turned around and crashed directly through Sendak’s ship. Everything around him shook and he got some kind of whiplash with how fast he returned to his own body.

With a groan, he slipped out of his cell. Instantly, Keith and Allura were upon him, fretting over his wound. 

“In what kind of world is that _ nothing _ ?!” Keith hissed, sounding as if he wanted to rip him another hole. Not really comforting.

“Uh, guys?” Hunk interrupted them and they turned to the others, Sander was lying on the ground, panting in Hunk’s arms.

“You… you have to save earth,” she murmured and then stilled.

That was the first death Lance ever witnessed. Don’t get him wrong, they had been present when countless people died. They were soldiers in a war, he wasn’t as naive to think they would get about without killing someone. He knew of several friends that died, Blade members the most prominent ones. 

But all of those deaths happened somewhere else. Somewhere where Lance didn’t see the last breath leave their lungs.

And with this breath came a light blue mist. Barely recognizable on the dark backdrop of the destroyed hallway.

The rest of the fight was a blur. Everything seemed to be some kind of repetition. They kicked ass, then got pushed back. Sander’s death flicked in front of his eyes. hen, they stood up again and fought, only to be pushed back  _ again _ .

Even the high of having won was quickly gone, blown away by a new robeast that suddenly entered atmosphere. Lance was beyond his abilities, felt on the verge of conscious again and was out like a light when Voltron got pinned to the ground by the new robeast.

_ “Red?” _

“Hm? What?” he murmured, still groggy from the hit.

However, it soon was clear no one had talked to him, so he simply shook his head to clear his mind. He started hallucinating, that sure as hell was no good sign. Especially when he though the Atlas transformed into another gigantic mecha, only to swoop in to save them.

Eventually, they won, but got nearly blasted apart as the Robeast exploded.

Everything went black again.

_ A room with medical equipment, glinting in the light of sparking consoles. The walls were covered in soot where fire had licked it’s way across. Tables were turned upside down, medical equipment strewn across the floor and broken glass littered the ground beneath a hovering figure. _

_ Attached to the ceiling with chains by his ankles and wrists, the figure tried to move, but failed. They were weak, the strain of whatever happened to them taking their toll. _

_ “Red?” _

_ Lance glanced around, uncertain. Where was he? _

_ “No, not Red,” the figure murmured. “You’re his new Paladin.” _

_ “You know Red?” _

_ The white hair moved, fair strands shifting to the side. Blue eyes shifting through the room, fixing on Lance. “I was once his Paladin. Just like you.” _

_ Lance knew that face. The white hair- his face was obscured by an unruly beard and dark shadows, hunger and malnourishment hallowing his cheeks and eye sockets. Lance knew that man, but couldn’t place from where. _

_ “I know your energy,” the man said. “It’s familiar.” _

_ Again, the head shifted, the strands falling from his sharp cheeks, giving way to blue marks. Altean marks. _

_ “Father?” _

With a gasp, Lance woke up in the hospital, but immediately cringed back, a sharp pain in his chest drawing him back to his body. He barely registered hands fretting about him, voices filtering in and out.

That had been no ordinary dream, he  _ knew _ that much. His father was somewhere in danger.  _ Alfor _ was somewhere in danger.

“Lance? What’s wrong?”

Had that been Allura? Blinking his eyes open, his eyes barely managed to adjust to the brightly lit room. Allura and his mother were by his side, both looking quite concerned, Veronica stood somewhere by his feet.

“Dad, he’s-” his voice broke, not knowing how to continue. "He's somewhere- … the Galra-"

"What?" Allura interrupted him, and only now did he notice the tired bags under her eyes, her pale skin. The robeast really did a number on all of team Voltron. "What is with him? Where is he?"

With a huff, Lance tried to sort through his hazy mind. "The connection to Red. I felt his presence and he responded. I saw… a laboratory of sorts. Destroyed and broken. He hung from the ceiling, but I don't know where…" he started and tried to move, but got instantly shoved back down by his mother.

"Now, where do you think you are going?"

"Dad! He-"

"He will be able to hold out a few more minutes. Allura, dear…?"

A glance passed between his mother and the Princess and she nodded. "Lance, I'll look for him. We have all of Sendak's ships here on ground and are still about to explore parts of Sendak's command base. Don't worry, I'll find our father," she said and quickly pecked his temple, then ran out of the room.

The door barely clicked in place when it got already opened again, a very confused Mullet stumbling in. "Is there a reason why Allura is barreling through the hallways?" He asked, but then, his gaze flicked over to Lance and he gasped. "Lance! You're awake!"

"Keith-" Lance started, stopping when Keith rushed to his side, his hands hovering awkwardly in front of him, not knowing what to do.

They eventually settled on his mattress, tugging on Lance's blanket. "You asshole. You really worried us for a second, you know?"

"It seems I'm not the only one hurt," Lance gestured to Keith's temple where a thick white patch sat just on his hairline. 

"That was nothing," Keith waved him off. "So, why did I get run over by Allura?"

Groaning, Lance fixed the door in his gaze, wanting to run after her. "Alfor connected with Red. I saw him. She's looking for him."

Keith only laughed and patted his shoulder. "And you want to go after, right?"

"Yes!" Lance exclaimed, slumping in his bed and glaring at his mother. "But  _ someone _ doesn't let me leave."

Veronica and Keith both laughed as his mother started to attack him with a stray towel, cursing his recklessness. 

That was the moment a nurse came in, shooing everyone out of the room. Once he was alone, rubbing his shoulder where his mother had left an angry red streak. However, he wasn't alone for long, because Keith snuck back in with a mischievous smile.

"You'd think they know you can't keep a Blade of Marmora and Paladin of Voltron from visiting their team," he snickered, plopping into the visitor's chair.

Laughing, Lance shuffled around to face him better. "So you're going through all that trouble for everyone of the team?"

Damn, he needed to dial down the flirting. Blaming the lack of filter on his medicine and post-trauma-sleep-rest-thing, he chuckled when Keith flushed red.

"O-of course!" he grunted, nodding. He quickly changed the topic, though. "So, Alfor? How are you holding up?"

With a huff, Lance turned his face into the stiff hospital pillow. "Dunno. I mean," he shrugged glancing at the door in Keith's back. "I saw him, Keith, he looks horrible. Even though we weren't really close, I care for him and want to help Allura. I want to talk to him and ask him so many questions. But at the same time…"

"Let me guess: You want to avoid him at all costs, because he has never been with you and didn't even hint at you heritage and you fear you will scream at him and fight him, because you're so mad."

That… actually summed up his churning stomach quite well.

Upon Lance's questioning gaze, Keith shrugged. "I felt the same with Krolia, you know? I wanted to talk to her so badly for years, wanted her to be with me. I wanted to ask her a million questions about my heritage, especially after we found out about me being Galra. But I also was mad, wanted to tear her to shreds when I met her."

"What did you do in the end?"

Keith smiled. "Well, she's my mom. Believe me, the anger will subside the moment they're in front of you."

He chuckled, hiding his face behind his bangs and ruffled through his longer hair. "I completely exploded. All the pent up emotions bubbled to the surface, but suddenly, there was no anger anymore. I felt like crying but nothing came, except all the questions that bubbled to the surface. I must have asked ten or so until she shut me up and forced me to pilot the pod to safety first.

"The tears came later though. When we were in the Rift. The anger too, I left her for two days alone, wandering the space whale, just so I could cool off."

His voice wobbled. Scooting to the side, Lance gently patted the bed. "C'm here, Mullet."

With a huff, Keith relaxed in his seat, shooting him an annoyed glance. "I came here to comfort  _ you _ ," he grumbled, but quickly scrambled next to Lance, drawing the blanket around them. "Is that okay?"

"I wouldn't have offered if I wasn't okay with it," Lance murmured, snuggling into Keith. "Besides, I'm feeling emotionally raw, too, and could use some cuddles."

"Okay," Keith breathed, his breath ghosting over Lance's hair. "So, what's new?"

Chuckling, Lance fell into a speech how Rachel told him that the kids in her newly opened kindergarten group were already begging her for autographs from him and how she refused, getting more annoyed every time.

Lance really wondered when the two of them got so comfortable with each other. Since when were they openly talking about all the random things and when his heart started to make these flips whenever Keith chuckled at all the right points in his story.

Sure, Lance knew the answer. He knew the when, the how and the why. Still, it amazed him every time he realized it anew.

The week flew by faster than Lance was able to comprehend. In the mornings, he would wake up, cuddled into Keith or having the taller boy buried into his side. It was cute, because Keith had collected all the pillows and blankets he could find and built a cute little nest for them to cuddle into. They would wake up around six, the Garrison and Paladin schedule too much ingrained into them to really be able to sleep any longer. They then would do a short training session, more or less serious, walk to breakfast, split up to do various task throughout the day, meet back up for a late afternoon nap session, eat dinner with their friends, then, Lance would retreat back to his room and roam the books Coran loaned him or he snuck out of the library to learn and when Keith decided to get back from whatever he did (most likely training, because he always came back sweaty and took a shower in Lance's bathroom), they went to bed again.

It was a comfortable rhythm they built and it felt too domestically blissful for him to complain or change anything. 

And, he somehow had convinced himself, he could stop any time. Get back to his normal rhythm of sleeping alone, without they lil’ nest, and doing things his own way without Keith by his side.

His (temporary) bliss was only ever interrupted when he was alone, roaming with a Garrison's salvage team Sendak's crashed control base. The ship had been huge and crumbled to pieces when it crashed down on earth. He and Allura were still looking for their father inside the wreck. 

At the crash, parts crumbled and got blown apart, the durable Galran alloy they used in their ships hard to cut through with earth's relatively stunted tools.

The search was thorough and slow and his heart broke every evening when he had to tell his mother that they  _ still _ found nothing.

Most of earth's forces were split and they couldn't have the amount of people they would have liked. Between building earth's defenses and recovering the various parts of the robeasts, along with the economical and social downfall with the invasion and no, humanity is not alone (now, that they were relatively save, the message seemed to sink in properly and many groups went into an uproar, claiming that all aliens were bad and some even said they had to be eliminated, what let a collective shiver run down their backs, simply because their speeches were eerily similar to some Galran ones they had heard. Luckily, they were only few. They didn't want to fight earth, like they did with Zarkon, now that earth had the technology), earth's forces were really thin and they could only spare a few volunteers to search through a wreck of metal and broken hope.

The progress was slow and tiring. But when Allura suddenly called through their coms, Lance should get to her position asap, he dropped everything and sprinted across the hallways, always checking where Allura's dot was currently resting on his map.

He skidded around a corner, nearly kissing the ground as he slipped in a wet puddle of something on the floor in his haste. However, he slowed down when he was two or three corners away.

Sure, he wanted to save his father, ask him so many questions, hug him, hit him, do  _ something _ . Anything to get him to explain why he never said a word to him. It was his  _ father _ . The man that took him on a weird camping trip, the one that stayed away from their family, simply to protect them, even when his children hated him.

But it was also King Alfor. The king of Altea and Allura's father. The one whose ghost haunted them in their first week on the Castle Ship, nearly ejecting him into space. The man that created the lions, Zarkon's best friend and former paladin of his lion.

He didn't know how to approach the man.

However, he  _ did _ care about his father, so he quickly skipped ahead, greeting the first volunteers that waved him ahead, everyone running around in panic, making calls or pulling debris out of the way.

Lance dismissed everyone and quickly slipped through a narrow crack in a horribly dented door. 

Lance knew the room behind. It was the same room from his dreams, including the instruments, tubes and the man dangling from the ceiling.

Volunteers stood around him, Allura right in front of him, talking to him softly in Altean while the volunteers tried to free him.

The moment, he saw his father's face for the first time again, he gently stepped closer to Allura and Alfor.

"Hola, papa," he smiled gently. "Keep on hangin', 'kay?"

Alfor just murmured something, barely conscious after weeks of neglect. He exchanged a glance with Allura and saw his worry reflected in her eyes.

Sweeping his gaze over him, he noticed the signs of malnutrition and dehydration. He may be only alive because of his Altean magic. Every other person might be dead by now. 

But Lance also found various cuts and burn marks along the skin that stretched over his bones like paper. Bruises bloomed over his chest and his left arm must be broken. 

They needed to ship him to the medic bay immediately. And this time, Lance was ready to take over.

The medics arrived a few minutes later, and together, they managed to free the man and carry him to the med bay, where Lance and Sam, together with a kind woman called Dorothy worked on setting broken bones and stitching him up. He had some minor internal bleeding and barely registered anything until they put him under.

His initial assumption had been correct, extreme malnutrition, dehydration, hematomes and a heavy concussion, along with burned tissue over the majority of his left side. Both arms were pulled out of their sockets, most likely a product from the crash, and various broken bones. It's going to be a pain recovering from that.

Again Lance found himself in some kind of trance. His fingers worked on their own accord and his mind worked with a clarity and focus, he only knew from shooting.

When Alfor was eventually settled into a room, everything bandaged up properly and resting peacefully, Lance allowed the fatigue to creep into his bones.

He slumped into a visitor's chair and met his gaze sweep over Alfor. It felt weird to call this man his father. He knew his father to be healthy and  _ human _ .

The man lying in front of him was a shadow of a being. Skin paper thin, stretching over his cheekbones, with dark bruises under his eyes, making the face look like a scull. He would be able to look past the appearance, wouldn't it be for his very prominent Altean markings. The blue sickles were pale and his ears were too pointy.

In front of him was King Alfor, Allura's father and Red's former paladin.

Lance tried to find his father in him. The man with the kind, sparkling blue eyes, hair as white as the snow and the booming laugh. He couldn't find him. Hell, he barely knew his father in the first place, how was he supposed to see him in that foreign shadow of a man?

"Lance?"

He startled and turned around, finding Keith in the doorway. "Keith? What are you doing here?"

"You weren't at dinner and the others told me you found your father," he shrugged and stepped closer. "How are you?"

"Good. Tired, but good, I guess," Lance murmured. "Have you seen Allura?"

"Romelle dragged her away, saying she needed a distraction." His gaze swept over Alfor. "That's him?"

With a sigh, Lance slumped in his seat. "I guess? I mean, he's looking so different?"

"Shapeshifting sucks," Keith flashed him a smirk and Lance couldn't help but huff a laugh.

"That's true."

Without a word, Keith simply stretched out his hand, gesturing for him to stand up. 

"What?"

"Come on. Let's go to bed."

Confused, Lance glanced outside, the last rays of sunshine still on the horizon. It was barely past eight.

"Why?" he asked, still planted in his seat.

With a huff, Keith grabbed Lance's arm and hoisted him to his feet. "You're exhausted. The past two weeks you were barely functioning with worry, and today you were hours in the med bay. You need to rest, you look horrible."

"But I don't wanna," Lance whined trying to fall back into his seat, but Keith refused to let him, tightening his grip, and dragging him away from the bed.

"Lance, don't be silly, come to bed."

Out of pure spite, Lance dropped his weight, forcing Keith to adjust his grip, so he had to use both arms if he wanted to be able to hold him up. "Lance!"

"Keith," Lance snickered, lolling his head back.

"Oh, you're so funny," Keith grumbled, trying to hoist him back up. Damned be his stupid Galra strength.

Yelping as Lance got slung over his shoulder, he grunted as he admitted defeat. "You're so mean."

"I'm caring, now hold still or I'll drop you," he warned and turned to walk back out of the room.

He caught a last glimpse of the Altean that was supposed to be his father before the door swung close behind them and the view shifted to the blank walls of the med bay. Keith just kidnapped him. Who was the dramatic one now?

"Keith, you can let me down now."

"Nope, not happening," Keith shook his head. "You're too self destructive and if I'm going to let go of you, you'll run back. Maybe not right now, but I need to keep you restrained first."

Trying to turn around, Lance fixed the back of Keith's mullet. "Restrain? Kinky."

With satisfaction, he watched how Keith faltered in his step, adjusting his grip again, but obviously trying to keep away from Lance's behind. That was funny to watch, because Lance butt was directly next to his face.

"Not like that!!" Keith hissed and Lance  _ knew _ that boy was blushing. "I- I thought of cuddling! God, Lance, how-? Even- Lance!"

Snickering, Lance settled back down, getting greeted with his own view of a butt. Nice.

"Chill, Mullet, I was joking." And he added as an afterthought, "I'd really like some cuddling."

Keith was right, though. Lance  _ was _ tired. The time in the surgery was gradually catching up with him and his arms and legs felt tired, his mind sluggish, now that the focus of patching up his father was gone. 

"Good," Keith muttered and adjusted his grip again.

They left the medic ward in silence, Lance waving to people they passed. It wasn't long until Keith stepped into Lance's room and dropped him unceremoniously onto the bed. It hurt a bit, simply because the Garrison mattresses and beds were shit. But everything was in good spirit, especially, when Keith dropped on top of him as well.

Groaning as Lance got squished under his friend, he shuffled around, to shift Keith's weight away from his hip.

"Stay still," Keith ordered. "Sleep."

"Keith, I  _ can't _ ," Lance smiled. "First of all, you are  _ heavy _ in all the wrong places. Second, I won't sleep in my uniform and you won't either. So skid, so I can change."

With a huff, Keith rolled off him and Lance hurried to change and go through his evening routine. When he eventually returned, Keith was already in bed, snuggled under their covers, arms open, inviting.

They didn't normally start like that. Sure, they always progressed into cuddling sooner or later, but it was mostly Lance to start something. And most of the time, because he knew Keith wanted to, but was too awkward to ask.

Smiling, Lance bounced to the bed, snuggling into Keith's closing arms. He was always so warm. That was unfair.

"Thank you," he murmured into his chest. "I would have slept in the medic ward."

"I guessed that," Keith chuckled, his voice vibrating through his chest. "Good night, Lance."

"Night," Lance murmured and enjoying in the warmth. It was still early, but the day slowly caught up with him and his eyes drooped closed. "You don't have to stay, though. Go, train, do whatever."

"It's okay, sleep, Lance."

"Where's Cosmo?"

"With Iverson and Colleen. Dog meeting. Now sleep."

"Cosmo's no doggo."

"I know, but I swear, sometimes, he's behaving like one. Now sleep."

"Yeah, tha's-"

"Lance," he interrupted him, his hand trailing trough Lance's hair. "Good night."

Chuckling, he buried his nose into Keith's shirt, breathing in the slightly musky smell. "Sorry. Night."

Allowing his mind to finally rest, he relished in the peace Keith brought. Hm. Who would have guessed that would be something he'd ever say.


	5. The universe is a b****

The next months passed in a fairly slow rhythm. Lance still had a distinct lack of guts whenever he wanted to talk to Keith about their dynamic, but other than that, it was quite calm.

Alfor was stuck in hospital, comatose, slowly being nursed back to health. The Atlas eventually repaired, parts of the weird robeast still being fished out of earth's atmosphere and waters and Lance progressed with his studies. His family was finally a pain in his ass again and Lance was overall in quite the happy place.

He had bonded with Allura more than ever, when he and Rachel showed her earth's beauty products. Hunk took a short vacation with his family to Hawaii and regained the weight he had lost in space. Pidge was gone most of the time, buried in projects with her father, trying to fuse altean and earth tech to a max. Shiro was gone quite some time too. The loss of Adam had hit him hard and the entire team decided he was due to a  _ lengthy _ vacation.

He had been hesitant first, but eventually agreed when Allura and Romelle insisted, Shiro should show them earth's most famous places.

Miraculously, the Eiffel Tower and the Chinese Wall and Chichen Itza were still mostly intact.

However, the absence of most of his friends lead to growing discomfort. Humans were wary of him and most of them treated him like an alien. Sure, he  _ was _ part alien, but his siblings were too and no one treated  _ them _ different. They fell back into their daily lives, his mother and Luis family going back to their old farm and trying to rebuild everything. Rachel thrived in the back and forth of the new founded market and Marco was never where he was supposed to be. No one knew what he was doing and Lance honestly didn't care as long as he came home in the evening.

He talked to his mother every night, but Lance preferred staying at the Garrison with Veronica and  _ Keith _ .

Again, with the Mullet. He was a permanent fixture in his thoughts nowadays. Lance knew he loved the walking 80s cliché. So he didn't really mind that they were practically attached at the hip. 

As frustrating as it was that  _ nothing _ happened between them (was it too much to ask for a simple kiss? Apparently.), Lance really didn't mind their arrangement.

And Keith didn't either. He was highly uncomfortable with others as well. He had always been the loner, the dropout, the one kid no one wanted to play with. And now, everyone asked for his opinion and wanted to talk to him, wanted to  _ be _ him. Simply because he was the Black Paladin.

However, the team eventually came back together, the Atlas got build, they found a freaking  _ Altean _ in the weird robeast and they were about to pack everything up, when his father's condition suddenly got better. Still not waking up, but better nonetheless.

:

When the last few weeks had passed in a blur, the next three passed in a snail pace. The days were filled with anxious worries about his father, trying to coax Allura from either their father’s bedside or from the Altean’s.

His mother was at his father’s bedside often too. She seemed so happy that Lance didn’t really bother to sent her home. 

When  _ he _ was not at his father’s bedside, he wanted to resume his studies, but the Garrison’s doctors had caught up with him and kept him from the library. They said he was no doctor and had therefore no reason to study human medicine. One of them even told him he should get his high school diploma first.

It was maddening, really.

So he mostly kept to himself and Red. He often trained as well, wanting to hone his sword fighting skills, but it was hard to train with a sword on a world that was relying on guns for centuries. 

Whenever he tried to talk to his friends, they were insanely busy with the building of the Atlas and figuring out the robeast, they had now dubbed Komar Mechs, because of similar technology Haggar always used at the Komar. 

His only reprieve was - as always, lately - Keith.

They were cuddling on a couch, watching the brand new Voltron series and laughing about the characters when Shiro suddenly stepped in, swept his gaze over them, flashed them a weird expression and stepped back out.

Lance exchanged a glance with Keith, neither really knowing what just happened.

“Not it,” Lance chimed and touched his nose.

Keith only huffed, rolled his eyes and extracted himself from Lance’s side to follow their leader outside.

With a snicker, Lance leaned back to get more comfortable while his side cooling down, losing Keith’s body heat rapidly. Keith was gone only for a few seconds, but came back in with a troubled expression.

Upon Lance's question what happened, he only shrugged Lance off and they resumed watching the series, but this time, Keith didn't cuddle with him, but sat cruel five inches away from him.

:

One evening, he sat in the canteen, Hunk rummaging around with his parents, while Lance absentmindedly stirring his coffee, thinking of - who would have guessed - Keith.

When Hunk suddenly mentioned Keith, Lance glanced up. When had Hunk's parents left? Hunk was laughing, murmuring how 'they got him wrong'. He was talking about their TV show again. 

Lance had seen the pilot and the second episode with Keith, but didn't manage to continue yet, because Keith had had some stuff to do with Krolia and they wanted to watch together. And to be honest, Keith was avoiding him. Lance didn't want to continue the series without him.

"- Plus, they're hinting at some romance between him and Allura-"

"WHAT?!" Lance nearly exploded. "Keith and Allura? It should be Keith and Lance!!"

"Oh, a love triangle," Hunk mused, clearly not getting Lance's hint. "I like where you're taking this. A homoerotic couple would surely-"

"No," Lance groaned, burying his face in his hands. "That's not what I meant."

Recognition suddenly alighted Hunk's face.

"Ooooh, are you finally telling me what I think you're telling me?"

"Telling you what?" Lance huffed, not getting what Hunk meant.

"You and Keith. Keith and you. Togetheeeeer?" Hunk drawled. "Are you finally telling me that you're a couple??" Hunk sounded so delighted. "I wondered when you're going to make it official, but I didn't want to pressure you and-"

"No," Lance whined. "There's nothing to tell, because nothing’s happening but-"

"But you  _ want  _ to!"

"Of  _ course _ ," Lance huffed, staring at his coffee. "Of course."

"Did you ever even went on a date?"

Huffing, Lance rolled his eyes and slumped in his seat. " _ No _ ."

"Then speed things up and ask him out! Tonight!" Hunk squealed. "He's emotionally  _ dumb _ . How is he supposed to know you're even interested if nothing has happened yet?"

"I don't-"

"Nah-ah. Tomorrow's our last day on earth and after we're going to be back out in space, fighting the Galra. There's literally no time left! On the Atlas it could be weird and- and no privacy!! Ask him out!"

"No, mom wanted to cook dinner for us with Allura and-"

"Ask him to come too! I heard Krolia and Kolivan are leaving tonight for some Blade thing, so he's going to be lonely tomorrow. And he could  _ officially _ meet your family!"

"I already thought of inviting him over-"

"Then it's settled. You're going to ask him to come tomorrow," Hunk nodded, satisfied.

:

The last meeting on earth was over and Keith was slumped in his seat, staring ahead, seemingly lost in thoughts.

Maybe, now wasn't the right moment to ask him out. He wanted to turn around and leave again, but Hunk blocked his way, arms crossed. 

With a huff, Lance faced Keith again.

Why was he so damn nervous? It was  _ Keith _ . They regularly shared a bed, did practically everything together and now he was nervous to ask him to dinner? Sure, once the invitation was out, the innocence would be out of their actions. But it didn't have to be a bad thing, right?

Sharing a last glance with Hunk, he received an encouraging nod.

"He, Keith?" he started, but as soon as the boy glanced up, Lance lost the little confidence he managed to built up. "Oh, eh, nevermind."

Lance turned around again, but Hunk was right behind him, forcefully turning him back and shoving him closer to Keith.

Keith seemed to be quite confused, but didn't comment as Lance crashed into the back of his seat.

"Uhm… What I meant to ask, uh, I told you about the family dinner tonight, right? With my parents? I wanted to ask whether you want to come too?"

"To the family dinner?"

"Yes?"

"I don't know, I don't want to-"

"Miss the chance?" Shiro suddenly interrupted, popping up on the other side of the table. "I'm sure Keith would love to join you."

"That's not-" Keith tried, but Shiro interrupted again, pulling Keith from his chair to murmur something in his ear.

While the two were engaged in their little impromptu discussion, Lance exchanged a nervous glance with Hunk, who only threw him a thumbs-up. 

"Lance!" Shiro drew his attention, caging Keith under his human arm. "The invitation, do you mean it as a casual 'don't let me alone' or as a romantic 'I want you to meet the family dinner date'?"

Did he really have to spell it out?

"The, uh, latter. I want a date."

It seemed to have been the right answer, because Shiro simply flashed him a huge grin and lightly shook Keith, who was flushed a bright red.

One, two seconds silence stretched on forever until Keith eventually lowered his gaze with a fond smile. "I… uh… I'd like to come."

His gaze rose to meet Lance's and they exchanged a sweet smile.

"Alright, you Lovebirds, time to go," Hunk clapped his hands on Lance's shoulders, steering him out of the room. "Lots to prepare and stuff!"

Lance lasted about five seconds, barely enough time to leave the room, until he started whooping and shaking Hunk, because he simply  _ couldn't _ believe that he was making  _ progress _ .

After months of pining and longing, after months of closeness and the want for more, Lance had finally managed to land a date. A romantic one.  _ Finally _ .

:

Lance had overprepared everything. 

His family was briefed, but he doubted they'll listen to his advices. He had carefully made garlic knots after his grandmother's recipe (the one's he had bragged on and on about, without ever meaning to pull through baking a ton) and spent an hour sorting through his clothes, trying to discern which of his favorite shirts still fit and which not. 

Now, he sat on top of Red, watching the last earth sunset he will see for quite a while. He had dreamed about earth's sun and it's warmth, when the last rays shimmered over the atmosphere and the stars,  _ known _ constellations, shining brightly in the orange, pink, lilac sky.

On top of Red, because it was the highest point available and he wanted to catch as many rays as possible and bask in the calamity before his date.

Even though he had been nervous the whole day, fluttering left and right and being a general ball of nervous energy. 

But now that he sat on his lion, lulled in a gentle purr coming from below and watching earth falling asleep, he felt secure. It was only Keith, after all. The man he loved. 

The man who loved him back. It was clear in all the smaller things. Keith's smile. Keith's hugs. 

Just when Lance was about to fall in a fantasy with him and Keith in an actual relationship, clattering and the banging of various pots and pans caught his attention.

The source of the commotion revealed itself as they climbed up his lion. 

Keith dressed in some really weird clothes, with a pot on his head, a bed sheet draped over his shoulders and even a string of sausages around his neck.

"What-" Lance rubbed his eyes, but no, Keith still looked like his mother's kitchen cupboard.. "What are you  _ wearing _ ?"

"La- ehm, Lance McClain, Prince of Altea, uh," Keith fidgeted and looked so ridiculously uncomfortable, it bordered between a funny hallucination and a fever dream. 

"Ah, this is dumb," Keith muttered before clearing his throat and starting anew. "Lance McClain, Prince of Altea, I hereby ask you for your permission of courting and cherishing your highness. I am aware- Lance!! Stop laughing, I'm serious!!"

Lance couldn't help, but snickering. The whole situation was too ridiculous. 

"Lance, please!!"

He sounded so desperate, that it was kind of cute. Suppressing his laughter, he let Keith finish. 

Again, Keith tried to find his composure. "I… I am aware, that my humble appearance-" Lance snorted, but stopped at Keith's glare. "My  _ humble _ appearance can't compare to your suitors, but, uh, I dearly hope that you could spare me even a fraction of your time and… uh…"

Keith floundered for his words. "Uh, there was something about my heritage, uh and the ancients that may, uh, bless this connection?"

Keith stopped and watched him intently. When nothing happened, he hissed at him. "You have to answer now!"

Giggling, suddenly uncertain, Lance didn't know what to do. "What?"

"You-" With a huff, Keith gave up. "I ruined it, right?"

Giggling lightly, Lance patted the hull next to him, gesturing for him to sit down. "No, you didn't. But can you tell me what it was? Aside from ridiculous and insanely cute?"

With a huff, Keith fell on his bum, ripping the pot from his head, but flicked a hesitant smile to Lance. "The Altean courting question. Coran tried to make me say it in Altean, but it seems I'm not really gifted with this language."

"Courting question?"

"After you asked me out, Coran came and kidnapped me. Telling me of all these Altean rituals and that I'm barely able to court a prince, and- and then, this dumb outfit-"

Alright, that went too far. "Hey," he murmured, lightly bumping his shoulder against Keith's and plucking the pot out of his lap. "First of all, I think you're still devilishly handsome, Mullet and all."

Keith huffed, and glanced back to Lance. 

"Second," Lance continued, "You know as well as I do that I don't care about any Altean traditions. Hell, why are  _ you  _ asking in the first place?  _ I  _ was the one to ask  _ you _ , right? Why did Coran pull you to the side?"

Keith only rolled his eyes and leaned against Lance. "He said it was my lower social rank."

"For your information: I don't care about that either."

Again Keith rolled his eyes, but his smile was playful. "I know that."

"Then why the costume and the act?"

"Coran insisted it was necessary and I…" he glanced at Lance and sighed. "I thought you deserved the effort.”

Oh. That was sweet.

Chuckling, with rosy cheeks, he took the pot and gently sat it back on top of Keith’s hair, flicking it back so he could look in Keith’s eyes, who gazed at him with wonder. He gently slid his hands from the pot down his temples and to his jaw, stroking his thumbs over his cheekbones. 

“I’ll gladly accept your  _ humble _ request and would be honoured, if you accompany me and my  _ humble _ family at our  _ humble _ dinner tonight.”

Keith only laughed, blushing, and eyes shining.

“Asshole.”

:

Dinner went…. good. As good as it could go with his whole family set on embarrassing Lance. And Keith didn’t help, telling stories on his own, mirth shining in his eyes. Needless to say, he was ready to behead everyone he loved and held dear, ready to live in eternal solitude.

Keith was still giggling when they left Lance’s house to have a bit of alone time.

The perfect opportunity to start his demise.

“Did you really poop in your friend’s closet?”

“I was  _ three _ !” Lance whined. “I bet you did embarrassing things at this age too!”

“Sure, but I didn’t poop in random closets,” Keith sickered and took Lance’s hand, entwining their fingers.

Lance’s heart skipped a beat. “I thought it was a toilet. … A very dark toilet.”

Keith’s chuckles vibrated in Lance’s chest, making it swell with affection. He even found himself not minding the teases. 

They walked a bit in silence, watching their surroundings. Lance once dreamed of their perfect date in his backyard, fireflies illuminating their surroundings, lush grass and cherry blossoms framing their way. But now, everything was dead or destroyed, the grass at their feet crisp and the hollow twigs empty.

However, the warmth at Lance’s side and silent laugher, rosey cheeks and stolen glances made their surroundings irrelevant. Because all he could see were raven locks, amethysts and a smile that was as bright as the rising sun.

“You know,” Lance murmured when they came to Lance’s favourite spot. “I always wanted to show you this place,” he said, gesturing around. 

“You wanted to show me a dead tree?” 

“When I was here last, it wasn’t dead,” Lance shrugged, stepping to Keith’s back. He reached up and cupped Keith’s eyes. “Imagine: Atree as old as time, with a trunk so big you can’t even reach around it. Leaves so many, The ground below is always dark, with only little light filtering through. It’s summer and you sit below in his cooling shade, birds above and bees fluttering through the surrounding beds. Children laughing in the distance.”

“And you by my side?” Keith asked, turning around to face Lance.

“Always,” Lance smiled, letting his hands drop to his shoulders, burying his fingers in Keith’s soft strands.

He always wanted to do that.

It wasn’t suddenly or rushed, but Keith was close one second and was even closer the next. 

And when they met halfway, he was encompassed in warmth. There were no fireworks or sparks, like he had imagined. But it felt gentle, like meeting an old friend. Like a hug from his mother. 

It was familiar and at the same time so excitingly new, he thought he was getting crazy. But Keith's warmth grounded him, felt like a lifeline in the tides of the universe.

Just when they were about to draw away, he felt Keith's arms snake around his torso, gripping his shirt tighter, the same moment when his arm found their way over Keith's shoulders, hands burying further into dark locks, pulling him closer.

They met again and their lips meshed together, creating friction.

But just when a moan threatened to rip past his lips, a weird beeping sound startled the two of them and they seperated, glancing to the side.

Beezer stood right next to him, beeping curiously.

"Is it just me or did it ask what we were doing?" Keith murmured, suspiciously eyeing the robot.

Lance only giggled, nosing Keith's chin with closed eyes. "I saw Pidge tinkering with their innards. Hey, Beezer?"

Turning to the robot, he hooked his arm around Keith's waist. "Can you take a photo?"

"Why should he take a photo?"

"Because of memories, Keith," he rolled his eyes, smiling fondly. "Our first official date. It has to be captured for future generations."

"Oh, my bad. I thought the millions of pictures your mom took earlier were enough."

Lance laughed and barely noticed how Beezer took the picture. Only later that night, when they were in in his childhood bed, Keith snuggled into his back, did Lance really look at the glossy paper.

He stood on the left, his arm loosely around Keith's waist, the leftovers of a once ordinary pose. He was laughing, his eyes halfway shut, turned to face Keith. The man at question looking at him with a fond gaze that made Lance question whether Keith always looked at him this way.

This was by far Lance's favourite photo of the two of them together.

:

The first days on the Atlas felt weird.

After they had left earth, the team needed time to adjust to the new old schedule. The Garrison was adamant about keeping everything in order: sleep, food and training in a tight schedule.

It was hard to adjust, not only because there were a bazillion more people aboard, but also because they were used to sleep whenever they had time to spare and eat after missions, regardless of the time and train whenever in between.

Normally, they were able to walk freely around, but now, there were security zones where you needed clearance to enter (they luckily had, but it was a bother nonetheless, especially when elder guards tended to think they were cadets. Which they  _ technically _ were, but- we're getting off topic). 

To sum it up: the team needed time to adjust and were often found either in their lion's hangar (highest security zone, no one was allowed to enter, thank you, Shiro) or on the training deck, goofing off.

Lance enjoyed showing off his skills and getting into shooting matches with his sister. Veronica was good with a blaster, but as soon as it got into combat with it, she was slightly afraid which Lance used to his advantage.

They did a few missions, including a very disheartening one to Oriande where Honerva destroyed not only the temple, but also managed to get Lotor back into their realm.

However, they still had other missions (containing a very special one, he had to beg to Allura for  _ days _ until she was willing to accompany him), still participated in a weekly movie-slash-games-night (even though it now involved a lot more cuddling between Lance and Keith) and they were overall still the same. And the occasional call from home was definitely a plus.

Lance was overall happy with his life. Space adventures and a hot boyfriend at his side, who stole kisses in the hallways whenever they felt like they were alone.

However, they still had yet to go on a second date and when they got clearance to visit Clear Day, Lance jumped to the occasion.

Keith was less enthusiastic, only agreeing to come with him, as Lance promised they'd ask around for any suspect behaviour.

"Keith!!" Lance shrieked, tugging Keith along to something that looked suspiciously like a game of ring toss. "I  _ have  _ to try this!! Look, they have lion plushies!"

"We have the original lions in our hangar, Lance," Keith threw in with a grin, watching a girl leave with a plushie of the blue lion.

" _ Yes _ ," Lance stressed, but continued to tug him along anyway. "But I promised Allura to get her something. So, I'm going to win her a stuffed Blue Lion."

Instead of complaining, Keith trudged along and laced their fingers together properly. They exchanged a smile and stepped closer to the booth.

"I'm going to  _ rock  _ this game."

"You handsome young men wanna play?" The Unilu at the stand asked them, already showing them rings. "It's easy, you just have to toss these rings on one of these sticks. Maybe win one for a special someone?" He wiggled with his brows and Keith showed their interlaced hands, not impressed.

"Well, we need a Blue lion for one of our friends, though, do you happen to have any left?"

"Oh, let's see," they hummed, rummaging under the counter and presenting a cute, blue lion plush. "It seems I have happen to have a one-of-a-kind, special, collectors edition of a flying feline."

"Cool, how much does it cost?" Lance asked, pulling out his coins. "I only have ten-"

He couldn't even finish his sentence when the vendor had already snatched all his coins out of his hands and deposited three tiny rings into his hand instead. "That's exactly how much it costs."

"Did they shrink?"

"Lance, he's tricking you," Keith complained. "The game is rigged."

"No," the Unilu chuckled. "They just look tinier in your big, muscular hands."

Again, Keith presented their interlaced fingers, but Lance, gasping, got stubborn. "You just wait!! I'm going to wreck this game!!"

He then let Keith go, took on his stance and threw the rings in a quick and rapid fire.

But all of them missed. "Oh, so close," the Unilu hummed. "Wanna try again?"

"Lance, don't," Keith warned. "You already lost all your tokens."

Lance hummed, eyeing the plush sadly.

"Alright, maybe we can make a deal?" the Unilu suggested.

The deal was leading to half a varga signing all the red plushies the stand had to offer. Keith offered to take over some too, but the Unilu only asked who he was, so Keith stopped talking until Lance was finished with scribbling his name on a thousand plushies.

Happy with his prize, they eventually left the stand and Keith insisted on asking around to take care of the safety of the festival. Lance was too happy to complain, so he took his boyfriend's hand again and let him ask around.

After ten or so horribly brash comments, Lance giggled and tugged Keith away from giggling teenagers.

"Come on, let's find something else to do."

Keith huffed, but came with him. "What? Wanna find a tunnel of love?" he snickered.

"Maybe," Lance hummed and turned around to face his boyfriend. "Tunnels of love are great to make out in."

"Oh?" Keith chuckled and leaned down to kiss him. Lance easily reciprocated, but they got interrupted by a voice calling them to board, because they were holding up the line.

"A tunnel of love!!" Lance squealed and dumped Keith into the waggon. 

"More like a tunnel of annoyance."

"Come on, Keith," Lance purred. "It can't be that annoying."

"Keep your hands in the mouth, you use 'em, you lose 'em and have a blissfully burrowful time," the attendant droned and flipped a lever that made the cart start forwards.

Everything was okay until a gigantic mouth opened in front of them and - horrible music greeted them.

Lance laughed when a hundred or so puppets sang about burrowing every day and celebrating Clear Day. It was hilarious.

But Keith only groaned and clapped his hands over his ears and slumped in the seat.

Lance laughed, already able to sing with the puppets by the time the cart screeched through a stop and the attendant informed them of a malfunction.

He had to hold Keith back from jumping out if the cart. Giggling, he clung to Keith's waist, who tried to climb aboard, but he was laughing to much to really be serious about his flight plans. 

They soon continued their trek anyway and Lance cuddled into Keith's side, who murmured how utterly dumb and annoying the ride was.

"The  _ worst _ tunnel of love in the history of tunnel of loves," Keith grumbled as they exited. 

"That was no tunnel of love," Lance laughed. "I don't know  _ what _ it was, but it was no tunnel of love."

Keith only shrugged. "Who knows, maybe it's considered romantic here."

Lance hummed, the music still stuck in his head. He dropped his voice, trying to sound sultry. "What do we say~?"

Unable to continue, they laughed, stumbling along the pathway, enjoying the merry time together.

The merry time however didn't last long.

As they boarded the Atlas again, high on Shiro's spectacular win and got greeted by Sam, who looked more than a bit troubled. Lance exchanged a glance with Keith and instantly raced to the med bay, the team at his heels.

When they tumbled into the med bay, Lance instantly drew up Allura's stats, checking over everything, but couldn't really find anything amiss. 

"Sam, what happened?"

"I found her like this. It seems she absorbed the entity."

:

Two quintants.

Allura slept through two quintants. Her vital signs and overall health was… good. There was nothing wrong with her body. It was her mind that needed treatment though. And Lance had no clue what to do.

Her quintessence readings were all over the place and Lance couldn't get a grasp on them, was unable to stabilize her.

Allura had to fight the entity herself. So, Lance was left waiting, alternating between checking on her and Alfor, who still was in a coma.

But after two quintants, Lance just talked to Coran about possible treatments, Allura groaned in her bed and groggily opened her eyes. "Lance?"

"Allura!" Lance sighed. "Finally. How are you feeling?"

"Good. But we have to talk."

:

Lance didn't like that talk. Allura wanted to trace Honerva through the entity and somehow, no one saw how lunatic and  _ dangerous _ Allura's idea was.

Keith held his hand throughout the entire thing, but it did little to calm his nerves. Especially after they decided to carry out Allura's plan.

Lance was about to change when Keith appeared at his back, enveloping him from behind. "It's going to be alright."

"Yeah, but what if not? Honerva is dangerous and you want to invade her mind? Keith, that's  _ insane _ ."

"Yeah, maybe, but do you have a better idea?"

"Looking for her the old fashioned way?"

"She's hidden, Lance," Keith murmured, his breath warming his neck. "We're looking for her for  _ months _ now. We won't find her with our scanners."

"Yeah, but finding her through her  _ mind _ ? A witch that's specialized in mind games? Keith-"

"I know," Keith murmured, his hand lightly rubbing his shoulder. "It's dangerous, but everything we do is dangerous, no? It will be just like all the other times."

"The last time you got hurt and we nearly lost Shiro," Lance grumbled, but leaned back against Keith's chest reaching up and clutching his forearms tightly. "I'm just concerned, that's all."

"Okay, I'll tell you what: When you are scared or things go downhill, grab my hand and I won't let go."

"I can take care of myself."

"I know," Keith chuckled and pecked his temple. "But it goes both ways, okay? We'll stay together, no matter what happens."

Aaaah. Keith was too good for him. Sure, he was an ass most of the time, but no matter how much they bickered, he always managed to calm him down. 

And even though Lance still wasn't quite on board with their plan, he felt considerably better, knowing Keith was with him.

"Alright, samurai," Lance smiled and leaned his head back onto Keith's shoulder. "Let's kick that dumb bitch's ass."

"That's the spirit," Keith smiled and pecked his temple once more, then retreated. "Finish dressing, I'll be waiting outside."

"'kay," Lance chimed and was about to turn to his chest piece, when Keith suddenly grabbed his shoulders, turned him around and quickly pecked him on the lips.

"For luck," Keith grinned and eventually left, leaving a swooning Lance behind.

It was easier collecting his thoughts when he knew that Keith was by his side. 

They met outside and formed Voltron and kind of swished through the astral plane, straight into Honerva’s subconsciousness. Lance still thought it was a bad idea and when the ground suddenly began to swallow him, he wanted to scream ‘I told you so!!’, but he was busy clinging to Keith, who miraculously still stood on solid ground.

“Keith-” he yelped and tried to climb out, pulling himself up on Keith’s arms, but it was of no use.

“Lance,” Keith ordered once it was clear the ground really didn’t want to swallow him too. “Lance, I’m going to find you, I promise-” he yelled, but Lance was already sunken up to his neck. The ground was slowly climbing up his jaw. “It's going to be alright, it’s going to be fine, Lance, I-”

the rest was drawn out into darkness, his hands flailing on the last grip he had on him, but the little feeling he had left soon vanished as well.

He woke up alone.

He was in some weird space that looked like the one from before, but with a weird red tinge. Checking on the connection he usually shared with the team, he found it weirdly muted, still there, obviously, but it felt like someone had simply connected him to another channel and he had no clue how to tune back in.

With a huff, he glanced around, but had barely any time to dodge an attack from a dark figure that came at him with a sword. Dodging to the side, he drew out his Bayard shooting at it, but it was extremely quick, evading every single blast he shot at it.

It was a bit embarrassing as it managed to get through his defenses in mere seconds, smashing the shield he drew up in a desperate attempt to protect himself and kicking him across the floor.

Switching his Bayard ito it’s sword-form, he barely managed to block the next attack and dodge another strike as the figure suddenly froze. A scream echoed through the plane, making the figure quiver and Lance barely had time to process whatever happened as Red was suddenly next to them, roaring.

With Red’s roar, wind picked up, so Lance had to shield himself, from the onslaught from the side, but the figure didn’t fare any better. 

The dark shadows that hulled it dissipated and gave Lance a glimpse on the face. HIs heart nearly stopped, because right in front of him stood his father, in his old Paladin armor.

Eyes with a distant yellow shine, a scowl maring his features. His altean marks very prominent and wouldn’t have Lance stared at him as much as he did these past weeks, he wouldn’t have recognized Alfor as the man he knew him to be..

“Father-?” Lance started, but had to dash to the side to avoid another rapid slash from his father’s Bayard. With a yelp, he called back his own, blocking another strike and with a weird feeling in his chest noticed that they held the same weapon.

“Father! Stop!” he yelped and ducked under another blow, trying to bring a bit of distance between them “That’s not you!! Try to fight her!!”

However, it was quite clear that his father wasn’t able to get out of this funk, so Lance had to somehow shake him out of it. He didn’t react to his voice, so maybe he should try a direct connection to his core?

Bringing a bit more distance between them after another slash aimed at his jugular, he quickly noticed that there was no use in arguing with him, Alfor was far too gone in Honerva’s influence.

But he remembered one lesson he had had with Allura in the very beginning concerning the lion’s. A paladin’s bond can neither be severed, nor replaced. Even after all the time with Red, he still got feelings and impressions from Blue. And he dearly hoped it was similar with Alfor.

With a glance at Red, who stood there, watching silently, Lance blocked another strike, but instead of drawing away, he held the stance with all the strength he possessed and concentrating on his bond with Red. 

And true it was - he felt another presence close, it was shrivelling and in agonized pain, dark and evil. And underneath some light. Faint, but familiar. Alfor.

Whatever had happened, he needed to separate the dark entity from his father.

Drawing back from the hit, his father charged once again, but Lance willed his Bayard to transform once more and with a bright light, they collided.

_ “Make no mistake, Zarkon is coming.” _

_ “Then we use the lions, fight him until our last breath.” _

_ It was a memory. From Altea, when Alfor was still a Paladin of Voltron. The original Paladins and Coran stood in a circle on the bridge of the castleship, frowns marring their faces. _

_ “I’m not certain we can win this fight,” Alfor said, his gaze sweeping through the room. He looked as regal as ever, only his hair was longer and his beard a bit more tame than Lance remembered from his youth. “We cannot risk Voltron falling into his hands.” _

_ “We’ll utilize our Lions to seal the Black Lion and once we are done, we’ll send our Lions as far away as possible,” he declared and Lance would have anticipated everyone to look shocked, but the old Paladins were only watching in grim understanding. _

_ “Coran,” he continued, “you and the Castle of Lions will take the Black Lion away.” _

_ “You would have me leave your side at the very end?” Coran asked, seemingly the only one aghast. _

_ “No,” Alfor breathed, pain flickering through his eyes as if he knew what was to come. “I would have you stand by my daughter’s. I am entrusting you with what is most precious to me in the entire universe, Coran.” _

_ Silence followed where Coran eventually averted his gaze, understanding what Alfor wanted to tell him. This here was a good-bye and it seemed to be painful, judging by the tears rolling out of Coran’s eyes into his moustache. _

_ “It will be my greatest honor.” _

_ “Then it is decided. We go to battle together, one last time.” _

_ Then the Paladins crossed their Bayards in a single chant: to protect the universe. _

Lance fell out of the memory with a gasp, stumbling back a little and of Alfor had been still controlled, it would have been easily to strike in his current confusion. But Alfor stood to the side holding his head in his hands. Little golden shimmer broke away from him, dissipating into nothingness.

“Father?”

Alfor flinched and looked up. He was confused for a few seconds, trying to sort his thoughts, but recognition quickly flicked through his gaze. “L… Lance?! What are you doing here?”

“Um…” Lance shrugged, “Saving you, I guess? We’ll, originally, we wanted to find Honerva, because she kinda went crazy and is sending Altean robeasts after us, so Allura took that entity and-”

“Wait,  _ what _ ?!” Alfor shrieked, visibly confused. “Allura’s here? Alteans? What happened? How long have I been here? And… and- you have Pneumahs?!”

“Oh, that’s what they’re called?” Lance chimed, gently touching his helmet where his sickle marks rested underneath. “Well, yeah, but it’s been a stressful year and I explain everything once we’re back out here. Your body is safe, but how did you end up in Honerva’s conscious anyway?”

“Eh,” Alfor stammered, shaking his head. “When Sendak attacked earth, he searched everywhere for me and I managed to hide several months, but I guessed I’d have to leave earth and draw him away, but they caught me. Honerva visited me and performed a ritual to trap my soul. But I managed to take a glimpse of her plan, we need to get out of here.”

“Do you know how?”

“I may have an idea, but we need your friends. Hang on.”

Alfor performed some weird hand gestures and concentrated and in a flash, he was back on the original plane, thunder rumbling in the distance.

“Lance!!” Keith suddenly gasped and he had his arms full of the Black Paladin. Before Lance was able to reciprocate, Keith drew back, cradling his helmet in his hands. “I’m so sorry, I told you to just hold my hand and I- I couldn’t… What happened? Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m-” Lance started with a smile, but his attention got drawn away as his father called Allura’s name.

“Father!!” Allura gasped and dashed into Alfor’s arms, both hugging and muttering under their breaths. 

“Are these…?” Keith asked, but Pidge finished for him. 

“Yep, the original Paladins.”

“Honerva trapped their souls and we were able to free them though our connections to the lions,” Hunk explained. “It wouldn’t have worked otherwise. Pretty awesome, right?”

“The Lions created a bridge, sharing old memories with new,” Pidge finished, but before they could delve further into it, Allura gasped and crumbled to the ground, high pitched ringing filling their ears.

The team rushed to her side and Alfor was looked visibly confused. “What’s happening?”

“Honerva’s connection grows,” Allura explained while cradling her head in pain. “We are very close to her now.”

“You hold a dark entity within you?” Alfor scolded. It was a tone he had never used on Lance before. “Don’t you know how dangerous that is? This led to Honerva and Zarkon’s end.”

“I know the danger,” Allura snapped. “But now I have the power to stop Honerva. You had to make a difficult choice in war by sending the lions away. I had to make a difficult choice, too.”

Alfor had looked shocked, but at this averted his gaze in shame. This entire thing felt wrong.

“I’m not going to be afraid to use the power I have,” Allura concluded.

Lance glanced around the two teams, watching a mixture between dejected and sad faces. He took Keith’s hand, needing the moral support he provided. Keith easily interlaced his fingers with his.

“We need to continue our fight.”

“But how should we get through that wall?” Lance asked, seemingly the only one able to talk right now.

Allura was quick to answer. “It’s like I can feel her thoughts,” she explained and kneed to the ground, her hand roaming over the smooth surface. “The way through this is with darkness.”

Yeah, Lance felt as if he had to protest once more. This felt faaaaaar too deep into the dark side of things and he really didn’t want Allura to end up like Anakin.

But luckily, his father had the same thought process. Well, maybe not the Star Wars analogy, but similar nonetheless. “Honerva went mad, obsessed with darkness and power-”

“And now we have to enter her mind,” Allura interrupted and before anyone could object, her hand started to glow a bright blue and the light travelled in ripples across the floor, distorting the images that reflected on it.

Lance could admit that it was fear that made him huddle closer to Keith as the light formed a portal below their feet, swallowing them including the Lions.

A strong wind picked up, but lessened as quickly as it came.

“Where are we?” Hunk was the first to ask and Lance definitely was similarly confused.

The landscape they teleported into was rough and sandy with an airily familiar feeling to the desert near the Garrison. In the distance they found a city with lilac lights and high towers.

“Daibazaal,” Alfor answered.

What followed was a questionable quest through Honervas subconsciousness, led by Allura and the creepy entity inside of her. They visited various places; spaces where they left the original Paladins behind to fight the Robeast they encountered on Arus, followed by Oriande that was quickly replaced by a weird forest with lilac strings that contained Honerva’s memories that lead to a creepy vision of Lotor in his fancy robot, but completely destroyed and crumbled, fused with the surrounding engines in a morbid and kinda disgusting manner, what lead them to a Blackout and they woke up on Altea where they encountered freaking  _ Zarkon _ . They freed him from Honerva’s clutches too and he was weirdly… nice. Once Allura tortured him with his wrongdoings, nevermind.

He could totally see himself getting along with the guy that Zarkon had once been, and that wasn’t because of some eerily similar character traits he shared with Keith.

But Honerva quickly noticed their presence and winds picked up again.

They formed Voltron, but this time, it was… different. It wasn’t only them, but also the original Paladins and his mind could barely contain the onslaught of information. There were just so many thoughts and feelings, so many personalities clashing into his. He felt like he was about to burst with the energy flowing through him.

It was only thanks to Red that seemed to channel the majority of it away from him that he was even able to think properly to form Voltron's sword and dive it right into the entity that formed in the sky where once Daibazaal’s moon had been.

The entire thing exploded in their faces and he felt a swift farewell from the fallen ones before he got blasted back into his body, breathing heavily after the entire ordeal.

He didn't know how time had passed since they formed Voltron to go after Honerva, but something felt wrong and he barely dared to explore the silence he received from Blue.

"Allura?" he cautiously asked, but as he received no answer, the others chimed in in the chant for Allura's name. The Blue Lion stayed silent.

:

They were in the med bay, surrounding Allura's unconscious form. Lance felt entirely useless. Like before, nothing was wrong per se, the only anomaly were weird readings he got from her quintessence levels. And after they fought with the old Paladin, he had expected Alfor'd wake up, but he still was in some sort of coma and Lance was left watching his family sleep, without him being able to help. 

What good was a medical training if he couldn’t do anything anyway?

“They’re going to be alright,” Keith said, placing his hand on Lance’s shoulder. Grateful for the support, Lance leaned into the touch.

“I hope so.”

“I knew that it was a bad idea to go after Honerva,” Coran muttered, gently tugging a silver strand behind Allura’s ear. 

“We all knew that,” Pidge muttered, dejectedly leaning against Allura’s bed. “But it was the only chance we had at finding out Honerva’s plan.”

“We know now that she wants to find the perfect reality and is willing to destroy all the other worlds, just to achieve her happy ending,” Keith confirmed, his hand travelling down Lance’s back to his waist. His warmth was comforting in his back.

Just as he wanted to make another comment about Honerva’s crazy plan, Shiro’s voice rang through the comms, summoning them to the Bridge.

Keith gently lead him away from Allura’s side and they organized a briefing. Everyone felt down, but at least Shiro had some good news. “After losing Honerva on Oriande, we found traces of her at the coordinates Beta 4-X7.”

“But we can’t confront Honerva without Allura,” Hunk objected.

Keith nodded, still at Lance’s side. “We can’t form Voltron without her and I wouldn’t confront Honerva without Voltron. She wants to find her perfect universe.”

“At the cost of every other reality,” Pidge added sadly.

“But we can at least prepare,” Shiro suggested. “What can we do?”

“We’ve been tracking a Galra fleet within our vicinity,” Krolia suddenly chimed in. “Our intel shows they have a Zaiforge cannon. Maybe Kolivan and I can take a small team and commandeer the ship.”

“Why don’t you take Commander Lahn and try to recruit them to our side?” Keith suggested, visibly intrigued by the idea. “We don’t want to fight more battles than we have to.” Krolia nodded and that was the moment Sam threw another idea into the round.

“In the meantime, Slav and I have been working on prototype upgrades for the Atlas weapon system.” With a quick glance to the side he added, “Of course we have to find extra power for them.”

“New weapons?” Pidge piped in with a grin. “I’ll give you guys a hand with that.”

Coran was the next to add something. “And I may know where we can get the extra power. There's a small Balmera in this territory.”

“Alright,” Hunk pumped his fist. “A little trip to a Balmera. We’ll take the Yellow Lion,” he volunteered.”

“And Romelle,” Coran added. “I’ve been training her on Altean customs. She’ll be quite helpful in communicating with the Balmera.

“Good idea,” Shiro nodded and glanced to the people around the room. “Everyone, let’s stay focussed on what we can accomplish.”

Lance stayed in his seat after the meeting was officially closed and as soon as Keith noticed his stay, he gently took his hand, rubbing his thumb over Lance’s hand. 

“We need to stop Honerva,” Lance murmured, trying to focus on the feeling of Keith’s hand in his. “This force of evil that’s been around for 10  _ thousands _ of years, it nearly killed not only my father but all of us as well… if she manages to go through with her plan that could destroy every reality- I don’t know,” he sighed, burying his head in his free hand. “And everything we come up with is additional manpower and a prototype weapon.”

“I know it’s not ideal,” Keith shrugged, ghosting a gentle kiss onto Lances knuckles. “But when was the last time anything with us has been ideal?”

“Aside from us?” Lance rebutted, but Keith chuckled, kissing his hand once more. 

“Aside from us. You remember that time we first arrived at the Castle of Lions? When we met Allura? She told us we were the answer to saving the universe, but she didn’t know for sure. She only believed and she needed us to believe and trust in her. And it worked, no?”

“Back then I was cocky enough to actually think I was the greatest pilot in the universe and flirted up a storm with her,” Lance smiled and rolled his eyes. 

Keith only nodded with a smile too. “And I thought I could do everything by myself. And now, look at us,” he prompted and held their entwined hands high as if to present them. “I’m Galra, you’re Altean and we are the best team in the universe.”

“The very best,” Lance nodded and leaned over to peck Keith’s cheek.

Keith nuzzled his nose into Lance’s shoulder in retaliation. “We've come a long way since. And we haven’t lost until we’ve lost hope,” he declared, standing up and nudging him to do the same.

With a small smile Lance followed, their hand dangling between them. “I haven’t given up,” Lance stated. “Let’s finish what we started.”

“Let’s finish what we started,” Keith echoed and drew Lance into a gentle kiss that was equally reassuring as it was toe curling.

:

Lance said good-bye to the teams going to their missions and then walked back to the med bay, not only to check on Alfor, but also on Allura. His father’s stats were still stable, recovering, but Allura was the one he was really worried about.

So he sat down in a visitors chair and took her hand.

“Allura,” Lance said, not knowing whether she could hear him or not, “we need your help,” he sighed. “Honerva could cross through realities anytime now, and you’re the only one that can get us to her. Please,” he began to beg, placing his forehead against her hand that he held. “I’m not strong enough to do it without you. We, no the entire universe, every reality needs you right now. And I need my magical space sister with me,” he murmured and tried to concentrate once more on her energy.

He hadn’t been able to do much the past thousand or so tries, but one more time wouldn’t do any harm.

So he concentrated hard on the flow of her quintessence. It was there, disturbed, but still within his grasp. 

But then he understood.

Not how or why, but he understood why she didn’t wake. It was like the entity was still blocking the flow between her consciousness and her body.

And Lance had a horrible idea. 

Glancing to the door leading to the hallway and across from this room into the room that held their father, Lance knew he wouldn’t be okay with this. And neither would be Keith, but he had to do something. He was sick of being helpless.

And he was a healer, it was his job to help his patients. So, he connected back to Alluras quintessence. He instantly found the entity, having it’s tendrils buried deep into Allura’s being. It would help if he siphoned only a bit, just enough so Allura’s essence had a change to reconnect to her.

So, he grabbed at the darkness and pulled.

Instantly, he felt it latch onto him and he audibly gasped, overwhelmed by the sudden force of the connection. But he willed it to  _ listen _ and  _ stay  _ in its assigned corner.

It truly felt terrible, like someone put a branding iron and pressed it right into his soul, marking it irrevocably, then turned and pulled and shoved, trying to reform his entire being into something of use. 

But Lance was not only Altean, he was also human and his human part, the McClains, were known for their stubbornness. 

With a grunt, he barely felt the sweat running from his temple, nor the tight grip he had on Alluras hand. But he managed to shove the thing into a dumb corner and built walls around it. Walls as thick as the Grand Canyon was deep and as high as the Chinese Wall was long.

It took a lot of effort, but once the mental walls were up, he huffed in exasperation, his vision swam and he felt like he just ran a marathon. The beast was raging inside, ramming against the barrier and raging, but his walls held. Lance really didn’t want to know how it felt to have the entire entity raging inside. He only got a small bit, but it was enough to set him off.

He barely even managed to take a breath as he was already interrupted.

“...Lance?”

:

As soon as both felt stable enough, he brought Allura to the Bridge, where everyone was happy to see her awake. But they didn’t have much time to celebrate, nor could he really explain how he was able to wake her up, without raising a storm of protests.

Keith threw him a confused glance, he surely noticed that there was something wrong with him, but Lance only waved him off.

They instead connected to Hunk on Coran on their Balmera and opened a wormhole to Honerva’s last known coordinates, only to stumble into a truly terrifying scene of Honerva’s preparations.

Three robeasts regarding something that looked like an even more powerful robeast with multiple wings, Lotor’s transreality suit, and something that looked like a Castle Ship of her own, the former temple of Oriande. With a gulp, they started the fight without Hunk or Allura, because Allura needed to get Hunk back first.

Lance was in Red and was truly terrified, but he tried to ignore the panic seeping through his limbs as he ducked and dodged the onslaught of the Lions. And just when Allura wanted to get Hunk to them to form Voltron - a splitting headache made Lance stumble, so he got hit by a robeasts strike.

He heard Keith’s scream over the coms, noticed his sparking dashboards, but all he could concentrate on was a voice echoing through his head.

“ _ Arise, my children. The time has come to act. Repent for your traitorous ways. Lend me your quintessence, and all will be forgiven. _ ” 

The voice was hollow and distorted, but he clearly recognized the source: The piece of the entity he had sealed in his soul. He could still function somewhat, frantically trying to stabilize Red that tumbled to space, while simultaneously not listening to Honerva’s call.

“ _ Deliver me the power I need to return to our homeland. Give me your energy along with the ships crystal. All of it. _ ”

Lance barely had any time to comprehend the situation as a gigantic blue ray shot from the Atlas directly into the centre of Honerva’s palace. Lance gasped, wanting to help, especially as there was a gigantic commotion coming from the Atlas, but Red was still somehow out of it, and his splitting headache didn’t make anything easier. At least his mental walls held the onslaught on bay.

The real problem though, was a gigantic wormhole Honerva’s Castle opened. He barely noticed the change of the tide, but suddenly one of the robeasts ceased their attack on the Lions and fully charged one of the Castle’s tower-thingies. 

A gigantic explosion threw him back in his seat and he may have blacked out there for a second, not only from the blast, but also from the whiplash of the cut connection.

He woke up to a ringing head and murmured conversations on his coms. Hunk was talking and his dash beeped, signalling an incoming call from Keith. Lance warily pressed the button to accept the call and he was greeted with a concerned glance. 

“ _ Lance- _ ”

“I’m good, love,” Lance tried to reassure him, but seemed to fail spectacularly as Keith’s frown even deepened. Neither noticed the new pet name. “I’m serious. Let’s talk about it once we won this fight, okay?”

Keith was left nodding. They really didn't have another choice, because they currently were stuck in a good time crunch. “ _ Just leave this channel open, okay?” _

Lance nodded with a hum, because he truly couldn’t do anything else right now.

They had to win. And just on time, a wormhole opened and Hunk flew through with a Balmera on his heels. “ _ Hey guys, did you start without us? _ ”

“ _ Alright Paladins!” _ Keith called through the coms. “ _ Hunk, Allura, get out here so we can form Voltron.” _

_ “Copy that! _ ” They echoed back and while they waited for the two to join them, they started attacking Honerva on their own, but all three received major damage, barely even able to get close to her. Lance truly had no clue how they’ll be able to beat her.

And just as Keith was able to hit her with black, a gigantic ray ripped them out of their treks and gigantic purple light helped Honerva combine with Lotor’s Sincline beast, while the Lions umbled back, offline once again. 

Huffing, Lance tried to get Red back on, tired of losing power all the time, but he was quickly distracted as Honerva’s fancy new wings suddenly swirled in a wide circle above Honerva’s head. Lance could practically feel the energy rippling around, like someone was twirling fabric.

Ripples and waves echoed through the space and Lances entire being. He felt like he sat in a roller coaster.

“ _ She’s creating a key to other realities _ ,” Pidge explained through his coms.

Allura continues. “ _ Honerva connected herself to Lotor’s ship and it’s ore and has now any means to travel through realities _ .”

“ _ It’s just like the day we lost the Castle of Lions, _ ” Coran added, “ _ Our reality is practically disintegrating.” _

Yeah, no, they can’t let that happen. Dipping into his Lion’s essence, he managed to get Red back online and just in time to dodge another attack from one of the robeasts. 

His gaze flickered back to his dash where Keith’s picture grunted and ripped his controls around. He seemed fine, so Lance concentrated back on getting the robeasts out of commission. The whole fight was pretty… all over the place and just as he managed to dodge one attack, the next was in order and he scrambled to get attacks on his own out.

Eventually, Yellow and Blue joined the fight and they were able to form Voltron, but even as the Defender of the Universe, they clearly struggled against Honerva’s force. Lance ripped his controls left and right, slamming buttons like he never did before, and he felt the others doing similar, but they just couldn’t get the upper hand.

It was one of the alteans that managed to turn the tide as the robeast joined their side and they were quick to disembody the rest, charging Honerva at the temple.

Hunk formed the cannon to shoot at the structure and keep her from ripping through the space, but just as they wanted to hit it - a gigantic explosion threw them back. Honerva managed the unthinkable: She ripped a whole into their reality.

And it felt horrible. Lance’s connection to quintessence gave him a front-row seat to the feeling how someone ripped a hole into something that truly wasn't meant to be pierced. The essence that made up their reality, their universe, their  _ being _ was literally ripped apart with sizzling edges and fraying fabric.

A shudder went through Lance’s spine as Honerva flew through and Keith wants to follow her, but no one was truly comfortable in going without the Atlas as backup.

And Lance didn't know how, but suddenly several Balmera joined them, zooming in from all over the universe to circle them. It seemed the rip ito their universe didn’t happen without attacking some attention.

_ “A Convuldrum _ ,” Coran suddenly gasped over the coms. “ _ None has ever happened in thousands of deca-phoebs. _ ”

Lance wanted to ask what was so special about herding Balmera, but then they suddenly began to glow and a white light shot at them and- okay, Lance could admit that he didn’t know what happened, but his Quintessence mixed with the other’s, even more than it normally did when they merged into Voltron. But there was not only their team, there were many more. Shiro was most prominent, but he also felt Veronica, the one that he knew best from the Atlas was easier to dissect from the mass that swarmed the edges of his consciousness. But he also got a fleeting glance on Iverson, James Griffin, and many more.

He barely got a grip on all those feelings when the light subsided and Voltron was merged with the Atlas.

Afterwards, it was easy to simply fly into the hole, ignoring the shudder and travel through different versions of Altea.

“ _ Those wings created a sort of cosmic tunnel in one blast, _ ” Pidge explained. “ _ The rift must lead directly to the reality Honervas been looking for _ .”

  
“ _ And any reality that those wings bored through is falling apart _ ,” Shiro added as they flew over Altea’s main capital.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One chapter left!!


	6. My father won't win the Dad-of-the-year-Award.

They crossed more realities than Lance could count, all of them panicking and having the same holes that ripped apart their reality, darkness rapidly closing in. But they were fast and obviously faster than Honerva, because they soon encountered her as she flew over another Altea, heading to the next hole.

They intercepted her with an easy blast to her rear, announcing their presence.

Unfortunately… They struggled to get something done in their new form. Sure, they managed to form a cool new sword, but they felt clumsy, their limbs being strong and fast but uncoordinated. Needless to say they got their asses handed on a silver platter and they collapsed, lying in the middle of a field outside of the capital, everything offline, staring up at the hole that still ripped through everything that built this reality, the crackling sounding sick and broken, while total darkness was creeping up on them.

Lance eventually grunts as the silence lasts too long. “We… we need to get up.”

_ “I can’t move _ ,” Hunk sighed into his com.

“ _ The ship’s not responding either, _ ” Shiro announced.

“ _ Honerva, she’s absorbed all our strength _ .” Allura stated the obvious and Lance didn’t even have the strength to respond with a quip. He only sighed, trying to focus on the energy flowing through him. And the part of the entity in his mind wasn’t helping to get his hopes up, spreading nasty thoughts even through the thickness of his walls.

The rims of darkness were slowly closing in, swallowing their periphery and any surroundings into pure nothingness. And since Lance got a grasp on the workings of Quintessence, he usually could feel… something from the universe, some kind of beat, a heartbeat, so to speak. So it truly concerned him that there was nothing aside from the little patch they were resting in.

But he guessed that was something he could have anticipated from a dissolving reality.

“ _ No. _ ” Keith suddenly announced through their coms. Lance felt a longing, wanting to see his face desperately. “ _ We’ve always done the impossible. Our strength is our bond. Our power comes from each other. _ ” Lance could practically feel the glance in his direction, the bond resonating between them. “ _ As long as we’re a team, we stand a chance. Zendak. Zarkon. Lotor. We’ve saved our universe countless times, but now all the realities are in need of Voltron. So this isn’t the end just yet. We need to get back up and stop Honerva once and for all!” _

Determination and hope from all around him seeped through the bond and it was truly impossible to continue to mope. With much difficulty, they managed to get back online and get back to their feet, leaning heavily on the sword. Staring up at the hole, they needed to hurry. Their boosters ran on maximum power and they managed to enter the whole in literally the last second with the last push of their rafters, just on time as Honerva was reactivating her beast.

They entered the next fight with her, this time with new vigor and determination. It was truly a gruesome fight until Honerva managed to impale her wings into their chest. It rips at Lance entire being, sucking and pulling at his essence, taking his being and shuddering his mental walls to power another hole in the sky.

It felt like they were pulling a literal knife from their chest as they ripped the wings out of their hull. They needed to stop her. right now.

But as they flew through the new hole, they found themselves in a rather strange environment. Lance can’t really describe the place, but it remembered him of a picture he once saw in a medical book, describing the nervous system of the human brain with twigs and lines criss crossing around a starry vastness with a bright center.

But they were ripped out of their astounded staring as Honerva destroyed one strand and they get flooded with pictures and memories of a civilization and an unknown universe.

Completely flabbergasted, Pidge deducts that they are at the source of time, of space, of-

“Everything,” Hunk finishes her thoughts.

Before they were able to get a grasp on everything, Honerva shot the next strand and every next strand sends a flood of impressions and feelings towards them, they could hardly capture as they tried to get closer, always being thrown back by the rippling of  _ live _ they got confronted with.

They truly tried to keep her from destroying the realities, but she was too powerful, too fast for them. That was until the last remaining string stands right in front of them.

She starts another attack, but they instantly chase her, protecting the string at all costs. The last remaining reality - if they failed to protect that tiny silver river, everything would be lost and every form of live itself would be lost.

They get thrown through the space, hit up and beat and got majorly injured as her tail pierces their chest once more, but something happened then. Lance felt a sudden strength flowing through them, a being that was equally familiar, but also so foreign. It felt like life itself wanted to help them out, all fatigue was suddenly forgotten and they managed to create gigantic wings to keep her away from the last string.

Along with the new tech and strength came a new determination. A new bond between them sewed together any rifts and ripples, all the consciousnesses that were muddled together, creating not only a gigantic blanket of hope, but also a new being. Lance didn’t know where he ended and the lions or his team or the Atlas started. He’s equally Hunk, as he is Pidge, or Shiro or Allura and Keith and everyone else all in one. 

They are Voltron.

:

He didn’t really know what happened, but he came back to in the centre of everything. There was whiteness and fulfilment and he could separate himself again. Even the entity inside of his mind was silent.

With a glance forward, he noticed Honerva kneeling right in front of them. 

“W...where are we?” Honerva suddenly asked and Lance truly didn’t know how  _ she _ didn’ know.

Allura answered for them. “The connected consciousness of all existence.”

A crazy laugh echoed through the space. “You think you’re safe here?” Honerva asked. “Soon, all will cease to exist.”

It was sad, truly. This space was peaceful. All encompassing and  _ good. _ And she didn’t get it, because life treated her bad. She was unable to see the good, because she was unable to feel it anymore.

“You have to stop it,” Hunk said, sounding equally sad as Lance felt. “All these worlds, all these realities, they deserve to live.”

Honerva only snarled, still staring up at them. “Those realities are flawed and weak, living out the same pathetic cycle of war and pain.”

Allura then stepped forwards. “There is beauty in their flaws,” she tried to explain. “I lost my father, my mother, my planet for this war… But I've gained a new family, aside from those that are actually related to me,” she kneeled down, trying to get her message across to Honerva.

They weren’t scared of her anymore, because there was nothing to be afraid  _ of _ . “And I gained a new purpose,” Allura continued, “one that is stronger than I could have imagined.”

“Humans began very flawed,” Pidge chimed in with a little smile and shrug. “There were wars, hate. But with each mistake, they learned and grew.”

Shiro continued. “And now we reach out to other worlds to pass on those same lessons and spread them across the entire universe… like your people once did.”

“And every new world touched,” Hunk explained, “the message grows.”

“Every world, every reality.” Keith. “We wouldn’t exist without the others.”

Lance stepped up to him, easily entwining their fingers. “Our differences are what making us stronger,” Lance explained while exchanging a knowing smile with Keith.

But Honerva seemed to be not affected. “Do you think your words mean anything to me? I’ve lived multiple lifetimes, and all of them were filled with pain and loss. And if I cannot experience the simple joys of life, why should anyone else?!”

It was a statement full of hate and desperation. It was truly a sad thing to watch.

But Allura wouldn’t be Allura if she didn’t try to help. She gently moved her hands from her shoulders and rested them on Honerva’s temples. A quick flicker of Altean magic and they all could see what Honerva needed to be shown: Her past, her love for the universe, the wish to  _ help _ and her love for Lotor and Zarkon. Feelings so pure and innocent, they had been buried beneath her hatred and agony. Allura simply dug them up and presented them to her.

“He deserved better,” Honerva murmured, watching a memory of Lotor pass. “Better than I could give to him.” 

She was his mother after all.

“Lotor may have been misguided,” Allura said, staring longingly at the same image, “but ultimately he wanted to preserve life. Honor your son,” she ordered, “Help me  _ change _ this.”

“The damage is already done,” Honerva said and the tears didn't surprise anyone. “There is nothing left to save.”

There was a quick bout of silence until Allura spoke again. “I could try to help. Lotor helped me learn how to transform the destructive energy from your vessel into a life-giving force. But I can't do it alone.”

Wait. If Allura was thinking along the same lines as Lance did, he was suddenly scared. Allura couldn’t possibly-

“But… that would require…” Honerva started, obviously having the same thought.

“I know the risks.”

As Honerva took Allura’s offered hand, it was Lance’s turn to intercept. “Allura, you can't possibly think that I'm okay with that?”

“Lance,” she sighed as she turned around. “I know that this is hard, but-”

“No,” Lance rapidly shook his head. “I’m not letting you. Nada. Never.”

“Lance, we don’t have a choice,” Allura stressed, both ignoring the confused commentary from their team. “We have to save all the universes, and the only way to do that is-”

“Life for life, I get that,” Lance huffed. “But you’re not equipped to do that alone.”

“She’s not alone,” Honerva threw in, but Lance barely paid attention to her. 

“No offence, but you’re an alchemist. You  _ create _ . It is  _ I _ who heals.”

“Lance, it is my purpose,” she argued. “I know that. I’m already ten  _ thousand _ deca-phoebs too long in this universe, my time has come, but you- you have an entire life in front of you and Keith-”

“I  _ know _ ,” Lance whined and threw a desperate glance back to his love, who was rendered speechless, as pale as their surroundings. “And that's why we will do it together.”

“Lance, no,” Keith suddenly threw in, ripping his shoulder around to face him correctly. “Lance you can’t-”

“Nothing will happen,” Lance intercepted, bonking his temple against Keith’s, searching closeness. “Well, aside from saving the universes, but I  _ swear _ , I’ll be back and everything will be alright as soon as you open your eyes the next time. I promise.”

“Lance-” Keith started, but Lance silenced him with a kiss. Lance tried to pour every kind of love and reassurance into it as he was able to. 

There were risks, of course and a great deal of ‘you may not make it back’, but he didn’t say anything in case he really didn’t make it out. He’d cry if he thought of the possible negative outcome and the last thing their team saw of them shouldn’t be his ugly crying face.

“There's no need for a good-bye,” he declared once they seperated. “Because we’ll be back.” He stepped away from him, Keith refusing to let him go, but he gently pried his fingers off his arm. 

“Lance-” Hunk too chimed in and Lance noticed that all of them had tears in their eyes. 

“Don’t worry. I have a plan,” he tried to reassure them and exchanged a glance with Allura and Honerva. And while Honerva sported an indifferent expression, Allura’s was downright agonized. 

“I have a plan,” Lance said once again. “I… wanted it to be a surprise, but I sneaked a visit to Oriande in,” he shrugged. “So believe me if I say that I know what I am doing, okay?”

Keith was visibly surprised, trying to figure out  _ when _ Lance sneaked a solo mission into their daily routine, but Lance interrupted his musings with another last kiss. “I’m good. I’ll see you in a tick, alright?”

“A second would be better,” he grumbled, but eventually let him go. They held hands as long as they were able to as Lance stepped back slowly, never breaking contact. It was only as light surrounded them, did their outstretched arms fall.

:

Keith felt as if someone had ripped his heart out as he awoke back in his lion. He was bleeding freely and felt as if he had run an entire marathon, only to find out that everything was in vain. “Are we…” he started, but quickly remembered the reason for his agony. “... Lance? Lance?!”

“ _ We’re back in our reality, _ ” Pidge murmured while Keith was frantically trying to hail the Red Lion.

Hunk was the next to speak, just as Keith decided to visit Red on his own. “ _ They did it, but… _ ”

The rest of the conversation was lost on him as he flicked the coms out, not needing to be reminded of what just happened. His muscles were tired and ached with every movement, but there was no way in  _ any _ reality that he was ceasing his efforts to get to Lance asap.

His jetpack quickly carried him over to Red that was helplessly floating through space. Shimmying through the maw and into the cockpit.

Lance? Lance!!

:

Lance felt warm and protected. And kind of dead. 

No, seriously, his muscles felt as if someone added salt and water and yeast, kneaded everything thoroughly and pressed it into spaghetti, then sew every single noodle together and reformed his muscles. 

But he also felt light and comfortable. Like the sun streaming onto his face after a long winter.

But also like he not only puked his guts out, but also his kidneys, liver, and lungs. 

With a sigh, he tried to move, but found himself trapped by something and he needed several seconds to dissect what it was that trapped him. 

Prying his eyes open, he got momentarily blinded by the stark lights of the infirmary, but quickly got distracted by a dark blob of hair that tickled his chin and neck.

“Keith? Love…?”

The form that was lying on his chest suddenly stiffened, seconds before his head flicked up, eyes wide. Lance’s vision was blurry, but even with not his full sight, he could make out the bags under Keith's eyes and the worry etched into his features.

“La-” he sobbed and it truly broke Lances heart to see him so broken, knowing that Lance was most likely the reason for that. So he floppily moved his arm, trying to draw him into a hug, but Keith was faster, gently scooting up the bed, cradling his face and resting his forehead against his, babbling things, Lance’s tired brain couldn’t pick up. 

So he ignored it and simply relished in the closeness they shared, breathing in Keith’s exhausted scent with a hum. 

By the time someone joined them, he couldn’t make out who it was, Keith was openly bawling, his warm tears streaming down his nose, onto Lance’s cheek and down to his neck and into the pillow.

But Lance could only smile, relishing in the fact that  _ quiznack yes, _ he made it out of the center. And everyone else too. Sure, there were concerns, like what happened to Allura or if the rest of their team was alright, but all he could really do was rubbing light circles on Keith’s arm with his thumb and enjoying that he was alive and well and that they saved not only their universe, but also all the others. 

“Keith?” someone asked, but quickly gasped Lance’s name too. A warmth gripped his free arm and Lance’s gaze swept to his left. Something big and yellow. 

“Hunk, buddy,” Lance croaked. With a smile he tried to take his best friend's hand, but he didn't need to move, Hunk was already entwining their fingers.

“It’s good to see you again,” Hunk smiled. “You were worrying us.”

“Worrying is an understatement,” Keith grumbled, drawing back without letting go of his face. “You gave me several heart attacks and I aged  _ years _ watching you these past days.”

Keith then dove down and captured Lance’s lips in a quick peck, quickly moving all over his face in a desperate attempt to kiss him all over. Lance only giggled enjoying the attention.

“No, you’re not allowed to laugh,” Keith huffed and simply snaked his hands under his head, drawing him into a tight hug by his neck. Lance chuckled, but hissed as Keith moved his torso in some weird way that shot spikes up his spine.

“Oh, sorry, sorry, I didn’t think,” Keith mumbled, suddenly distressed, fretting over Lance as he gently placed him down again, patting his shoulders awkwardly.

“Wh… what happened?” Lance asked, his head lolling to the side as he settled back down. “I don’t… remember getting hurt?”

“No, uh, that didn’t happen as you tried to sacrifice yourself,” Keith scolded.

Hunk placed a gentle hand on Keith’s shoulder to calm him down. “Your body was weak when we found you in Red,” Hunk explained. “We all figured the… whatever you did needed a sacrifice, but half your body was kinda in shreds. It looked bad, man, without one of the healing pods, you’d be covered in scars. You collapsed one or two times though and they had to resurrect you, that’s where your ribs cracked… and they didn’t know what will happen once you wake up, whether you got any brain damage and… how're you feeling, buddy?”

“Tired,” Lance sighed, trying to assess his body. “But… I’m good, I guess. My sight’s blurry though.”

“Your eyes?” Keith asked, concerned, his thumbs gently stroking the sides of his face right next to his eyes. It made Lance smile.

“‘M fine,” he sighed. “They’ll heal in time.”

“Do they need healing?”

Lance hummed. “You said it, the resurrection of the universes needed a sacrifice. Honerva gave her life. We tried to argue with her, but she thought it was her duty. Allura… oh poor Allura,” he sighed. “She gave up her quintessence Or the ability to control it anyway. Shed be dead without, but… she had more to give, so we could gain more.”

There was silence where Lance trailed off, unsure of how to explain the next thing. 

“What did you give?” It was Hunk who asked. 

“I? Oh, nothing really,” Lance shrugged, but hissed as his ribs got agitated. “I played catalyst.”

Hunk hissed, seemingly understanding. Keith must have been looking confused, but Hunk explained. Good, because Lance didn’t think he’d be able to. “In, uh, chemistry, a catalyst speeds up a reaction without being used. But most of the time, it reacts with the different substances to start the rection and somehow get back out of the equation too. Lance…”

“Yup,” Lance quipped. “My being got ripped apart, helped the life and the essence to form the realities, only to be set back together.”

Keith groaned and cradled Lance’s head in his hands. “Do that ever again and I’m going to kill you, do you understand?”

“Yessir,” Lance hummed and closed his eyes again, nuzzling into Keith's hands.

“I’m, uh, going to let you sleep some more,” Hunk said, patting his hand some more and then left their side, the door swishing closed after him.

“Lance?” Keith asked and Lance forced his tired eyes back open to look at him. “I’m just… can you… I know it may be too much too ask, but…” his face dropped to Lance collar bone, his hands burying into his hair at the base of his neck, trying to get a desperate grip on him. “Can you promise me something? Please?”

Lance hummed, his arm gently rubbing his back. “Whatever you wish for.”

“I can’t… Lance, I can't lose, you,” he started. “These past days… I never thought I’d feel ever this lost and… you have to promise me to never leave me again, to never do something like that again and to never, do you hear me,  _ never _ ever die until I tell you to, okay?”

Lance gently chuckled, drawing his other arm around Keith to, holding him in a lose hug. “Believe me when I tell you that I truly don’t want to do anything like that ever again, but… the universe needed me and… it was either that or we lost Allura, so, I’m truly sorry, but I cant promise you that, because I’d do the same if I could travel back in time. It was the right choice. But… I promise you to never do anything like that recklessly, alright?”

“Lance-” Keith began, but Lance lightly tugged at his hair, unable to do anything else to shut him up. Keith raised his head and most likely watched him, but Lance’s eyes had already fallen shut again, too tired to argue with Keith again. 

And his boyfriend seemed to get the message, because he only sighed, shuffled up on the bed and drew Lance into a gentle hug, cradling him in his arms while running his hands soothingly through Lance’s hair. “Alright,” Keith mumbled. He said something else, but Lance was already drifting off again.

:

The next time Lance woke he felt much better and even managed to hold entire conversations and was soon able to leave the infirmary. Allura was still in a coma her quintessence first having to restore the minimal amount so it could power her body, but it was a slow process where Lance was unable to help, because his own essence was… all over the place. 

So, Allura had to work it up on her own.

He got a quick briefing on their situation too. The Atlas was on it’s way back to earth to get new orders now that Honerva was dealt with, but they needed to take the long way, kind of like their road trip, without Alluras wormholes. 

Pidge, Sam, and Coran were already working on wormholes that didn’t need the Altean energy, but were quite slow with that, so the Atlas set course, sometimes deterring to answer an emergency signal, but overall being on their way home. 

Alfor was still unconscious but was overall better and Lance had a good feeling that he’d wake up soon.

Allura was first though, blinking her eyes open, nine simulated days after Lance did. It was a tearful reunion, because only then did she confirm his suspicions that she had been scared as hell, didn’t really want to die, but saw no other choice. She received another training on Oriande as Lance after all.

It was a chilly morning on the Atlas, because Sam installed some new features, when Alfor suddenly opened his eyes. Lance was just about to change his fluid bags, trying a new concoction he got from Colleen so his father could put on some more weight, when he turned around and found his father  _ stare _ at him.

Needless to say, he got a small heart attack.

“You…” his voice was scratchy from the lack of use, but he definitely spoke. “... you look- look like my son, but-” He interrupted himself with a coughing fit and Lance hurried to his side, turning his head slightly, so he can breath a bit easier.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay. Don’t talk,” he hummed, lightly rubbing his back. “I guess you don’t remember much, so I’m going to explain everything in a bit. Just wait a sec.”

As soon as his father had calmed down, Lance snatched the water from the side and attached the small sippy cup thing on the top. “Here, drink up.”

Alfor lightly touched the cup, clearly trying to drink by himself, but being too weak to hold the cup. Lance gently lowered the cup after a couple of sips and let his father settle back down.

He needed to get Allura. He couldn’t really talk to his father by himself, something was blocking his confidence. Keith was his first choice, but Allura needed to be here too, so he quickly took his comms and send a quick message to Allura.

Luckily, she wasn’t far. 

“Thanks,” his father croaked. “I haven’t seen an Altean in a while-” he started, but trailed off, starting another thought. “Is that you, Lance? What happened?”

He didn’t seem to remember what happened in Honerva’s consciousness. Lance had had a guess, but now that it was now confirmed, he had another reason to derail his talk with him. Without a mission to accomplish… it felt weird talking to him. Just when he thought he was okay with being altean, something like that threw him back to where he was uncertain.

His following chuckle sounded hollow, even for his ears. “Well, a lot, obviously. But we’ll explain everything in a bit-”

Suddenly, the door flung open and Allura stood in the doorway. His father’s head turned and Lance saw how he suddenly lost all composure. “... Allura?” His voice was feeble, even weaker than it already was.

He never talked to Lance like that.

As soon as tears streaked down Allura’s face and she flung herself to the bedside, Lance averted his gaze. They started to babble things in Altean, but Lance barely listened, instead busying himself with the fluid bags again.

Damn.

He was twenty years old, but felt like a child, begging for his parent’s attention, only that another sibling received it. It was a feeling he knew all too well, being the youngest out of five. 

The growing pit in his stomach, the churning feeling of disappointment and his aching heart. He hasn’t seen his father in years. He had  _ so _ many questions. He wanted to hug him too, tell him of his studies, he wanted, just  _ once _ , his father’s attention. The attention he never got, except of that weekend in the forest and the, like, two doboshes in Honerva’s mind.

Allura had had him all her life. For her, it has been only a year and some that she has seen him last. He  _ never _ saw his father.

And now, Allura got his father’s attention. An alien princess, who wasn’t even-

No. He needed to stop that thought right there. 

He loved Allura. And he totally understood why the two needed a teary reunion. He just wished… he just wished he would get his reunion too. But Lance would have to be patient and let them have this tick.

Glancing back to them, he took in the scene. Allura was practically sprawled on the mattress, crying and touching Alfor’s face. Alfor himself gently stroked her long hair, smiling with red rimmed eyes. They were gently speaking words of encouragement and ‘I missed you so much’.

He sighed and took the old bags into his arms, walking quietly out of the room to deposit of them. In the hallway, he slouched to the nurses room and dumped the bags in the bin.

Taking his coms out, he sat down in one of the chairs and scrolled through his messages. Out of a whim, he clicked Keith’s contact. The last message he got was a picture Keith send of Cosmo, with one of Hunk’s muffins in his maw, halfway eaten.

Smiling, Lance answered that he shouldn’t give his dog too much sugar.

Keith answered instantly.

_ Mullet, 13:22: He’s clever, he knows what to eat and what not. _

_ Mullet, 13:22: But don’t tell Hunk. _

Laughing, Lance replied as well.

_ Lance, 13:23: He may be clever, but don’t forget that he’s still an animal. _

_ Lance, 13:23: My aunties lab died because he was too fat :(( _

_ Lance, 13:23: Fat and blind _

_ Mullet, 13:23: He had a glorious life _

_ Lance, 13:23: glorious and short _

_ Mullet, 13:24: He’s an intergalactic, transporting space wolf, I doubt he’ll die because of some sugar _

_ Lance, 13:25: who knows _

Lance was about to construct a memoriam to his aunties dog, when Allura suddenly placed her hand on his shoulder. “Lance?”

“Oh, hey, ‘Llura. Is he sleeping again? He should rest.”

Allura shook her head, a small smile playing on her lips. “He’s tired, but he wants to talk to you. You up for it?”

“Are you sure?” he murmured, slipping his vibrating coms back into his trousers. “I wanted to give you some space.”

“It’s okay, Lance. He’s your father too. And I guess you have more questions than I have right now.”

Contemplating whether he  _ wanted  _ to go back, Lance hesitated. On the one hand, he wanted to talk to his father, wanted to check up on his stats once more and just wanted him to tell him everything’s going to be alright. He barely even cared anymore what he did the last thousand years, to be honest.

Because Alfor was Altea’s emperor. Lance still somehow thought the two men seperate. It just… was still difficult for his brain to merge the two men, even though he logically knew them to be the same.

But was there a better time to start getting to know them?

With a wobbly smile, he nodded and followed Allura back to the room. Alfor was still in his bed, his eyes closed, but they opened again, when they stepped closer.

“You should rest. The past phoebs really took a toll on you,” Lance tried.

“I don’t want to,” Alfor murmured, but you could see, he was close to falling asleep again. “I want to hear from you. Allura told me you’re piloting Red?”

With a smile, Lance nodded. “Red’s awesome. She’s worried, though.”

“Red’s always worried. That’s her strength.”

Silence settled again and Lance contemplated dropping the conversation, in favor of fleeing and letting him recover some more, but Allura rammed her elbow into his side, prompting him to continue talking.

“Uhm, how are you feeling?”

His father smiled and patted his bed weakly. “Tired. But I can still hear you. Sit down you two, and explain me what happened. And I need an explanation for this,” he said, gesturing to Lance’s head. 

“Ah,” Lance flushed and touched the delicate band that sat on his head that he had totally forgotten about. “That’s kind of silly-”

“It’s not," Allura jumped in. "He's a Paladin of Voltron and as much your child as I am, he deserves that crown."

"I didn't say anything about the corvah," Alfor chuckled breathless. "It really suits you. I meant the Pneumahs. How did that happen?"

"Uhm, Allura better explains that," Lance murmured and glanced to the princess. "I still don't really get this part."

Allura frowned, but easily took over. "We went to visit Oriande. The massive amount of quintessence triggered his Altean genes."

"Ah," his father nodded. "The wise stand back from the fire, fools are burned on the pyre. The mystic becomes one with the flame, the embers and he are the same. The Mark of the Chosen, Oriande's mysthic sorting. You both really are my children, I guess. So, you both were on Oriande?"

Lance exchanged a look with Allura. Now, it was his turn. "Uhm, no, not at first. When we first went, Allura went on her own, but I returned later. Everything was kind of in shambles, because of Honerva, but… Oriande is more than just a fancy palace, no?”

Alfor hummed with a tired nod. “Honerva? I clearly need to be caught up on events too. But I’m glad… glad that you…” he trailed off with a huff.

"You need to sleep," Lance murmured and stepped with Allura to their father's side. "We can talk later."

" _ Thar'Abac, babá, _ " Allura kissed Alfors temple and wished him a good rest.

They exchanged a glance and stepped out of the room. Just as he wanted to turn back to his room, to sort and drown his feelings in a gigantic tub of peppermint ice cream he had saved for just this occasion, he was pulled into a tight hug from Allura.

"Thank you, Lance," she murmured against his neck with her hair falling into his face. He quickly drew his arms around her as well, hugging her smaller frame to his chest.

He felt… lighter somehow. Only a few more days and he’ll hopefully receive a bit of closure.

“I’m going to talk to Coran,” Allura drew back with a smile. “He’d want to be here when father wakes up again.”

“Sounds like plan,” Lance grinned. “Do you mind if I…”

“No, I don’t,” she laughed and gently pecked his temple. “Go and catch some sleep, you’re still exhausted, no?”

“A bit,” Lance smiled. Honestly, he won’t be able to sleep much, but he wanted a hug from Keith.

“Alright, sleep tight, brother,” Allura nodded and ended with a giggle. “You know, when I was little, I always wanted to have a ridiculous little brother.”

“Thanks,” Lance grumbled, but Allura only giggled and nudged him down the hall.

As soon as he turned the first corner, he took out his coms again, wanting to message Keith to meet up, but it seemed Keith had had a similar thought process earlier.

_ Mullet, 13:26: Aside from that, can we meet up later? _

_ Mullet, 13:26: It’s kinda important? _

_ Mullet, 13:26: Not THAT important. _

_ Mullet, 13:29: So, you up for a date? It’s a date. _

Grinning, Lance quickly answered. 

_ Lance, 13:47: I’m free now and have something to tell you anyway. _

_ Lance, 13:47: Meet me in our room? _

_ Mullet, 13:47: Oh, now? _

_ Mullet, 13:48: Of course _

_ Mullet, 13:48: Uhm, need a few more minutes to prepare though _

_ Mullet, 13:48: so don’t enter until I tell you _

Naw, Keith was preparing something? He quickly send an okay back and made a detour to the kitchen, but Hunk was nowhere to be seen, so he went to the bridge wanting to talk to Veronica to tell her that Alfor woke up. She wasn’t  _ overly _ thrilled, but the trip was worth everything as he watched Shiro flounder and stumble over his sentences with one of the communications officers as they talked because they were bored.

Curtis.

He needed to tell Keith later about  _ Curtis _ .

Lance certainly had a merry time with his sister, trying not to lose their shit as Shiro accidentally sent an ‘awDVaewr’ into outer space as he was trying to look cool. And failed.

Curtis found it funny though and because Shiro was the commanding officer, there were was no harm done except of maybe some confused aliens that received their message.

Lance obviously sneaked some pictures but was quickly distracted as another message came through.

_ Mullet, 15:12: We needed a bit longer and it’s maybe a bit late for lunch, but will you join me for an early dinner? _

_ Lance, 13:13: K, omw _

He quickly sent a text back then left with orders for Veronica to capture every embarrassing moment and that he was expecting a full report. Veronica saluted and turned back to the disaster at the other end of the Bridge while Lance skipped out with a laugh on his lips.

But once he stepped into their room, he was stunned to silence and stopped right as he was through the door. Keith really had outdone himself, transforming their bland room into something even romantic. Most of their furniture was… gone and in the middle was a table with a fancy tablecloth, one corner where the bed was was shielded with a blanket (most likely to hide stuff) and there were so many fairy lights and… flowers. And it smelled heavenly.

“Hey,” Keith suddenly addressed him and Lance jumped, startled by the sudden noise.

His boyfriend stood to the side, obviously dressed up, nothing over the top, but a nice white dress shirt and dark red slacks. And he even washed his hair!! Bunched it up in a low bun with gravity defying strands that framed his face just right and the sight flew directly into Lance’s groin.

“H… hey,” Lance stuttered, completely overwhelmed. It was clear Keith had planned a date and Lance suddenly forgot everything that happened today, floundering to get his wits back together. And everything his mind was able to supply was that Keith managed to dress up, going so far to even wash his hair properly, and Lance was in his boring uniform he hadn’t even bothered to iron yesterday.

“I, uh,...” Keith started and stretched his hand out where a single Rose was presented to him. “I thought we could have another date? Hunk cooked something neither of us could pronounce, but it's that stroganov stuff we picked up on Theta-7 last month and, uh…” he shrugged, “I guessed after all the stress we had had lately, a date was due.”

“Keith,” Lance whined, finally able to get out of his stunned silence. He quickly bounded closer, picked the rose from his hand and threw his arms around his neck to pepper his face with little kisses between words. “You are literally the best boyfriend one could ask for, I love you. So. Much.”

Keith giggled, trying to keep up with Lances pecks, but Lance was faster, quickly tugging Keith to sit at the table while gushing about the decor and where in space he managed to get so many fairy lights. It seemed Keith originally wanted candles, but they weren't really allowed on the Atlas because of the fire hazard, so he raided the earth store (who proclaimed them to be ‘worms on a string’, because they had no clue you could light them up).

They had a good laugh and Keith took out the plates he had hid in the corner with the blanket and they merrily chatted while they slowly ate. He tried to keep his father out of the conversation, because he wanted to be happy right now and didn’t know whether he would keep from crying if they started that can of worms right now. He promised, he’d tell him later.

Instead they gushed over Shiro and Curtis, Keith told some stories he had had from his time with Shiro and Adam. And by the time he took out the dessert (Rhubarbstrudel, an ancient Garret-recipe), they had also covered Pidge’s work on the wormholes, Romelle’s latest escapade with human language and Veronica’s budding relationship with Acxa even though Keith refused to see the Galra’s obvious attraction to his sister.

“Acxa just don’t know how to have friends,” Keith argued, “she’s just awkward, but that doesn’t mean she has the hots for Veronica.”

“Oh, Acxa may be distant, but she  _ had _ friends! Ezor and Zethrid? They hang out all the time, but she's all flustered with Veronica. And don’t tell me it's because she's confused by our McClain people-stuff,” Lance squeaked, interrupting anything Keith wanted to say. “Ezor’s pretty outgoing as well, she  _ knows _ how to cope with loud people.”

Keith huffed and leaned back with a frown. He was just miffed that he was losing their argument. “Alright,” he suggested, sitting back up. “I suggest a bet. I say they will be friends, acquaintances. Nothing more. 10 GAC saying it’ll stay that way.”

“I’m in,” Lance struck his hand out. “Baby, these GAC are already mine,” he announced as Keith shook his hand, only to ghost a kiss to his knuckles. 

“Whatever makes you happy.” And as some kind of afterthought, he added, “Or not, because I’m going to win.”

“We still need a time range,” Lance declared, placing their entwined hands on the table between them. “If I know my sister in any way or form, I’d say she won’t last any longer than maybe a few phoebs. She has the same thickhead all of the McClains possess, so I guess she’ll need a while to realize her feelings, but she’ll act quickly on them.”

“Unlike you?” Keith snickered and Lance shrugged, abashed. “Alright, let’s say six phoebs, does that sound good?”

“Babe, we have a deal,” Lance declared, leaning over the table to exchange a quick kiss. Lance hummed into the touch, but as he drew back, he watched Keith suddenly seeming nervous. “Keith?”

“Um,” Keith averted his gaze. “I had prepared something else, but I suddenly don't know how you’ll react, so I better keep it for somewhen else, and I, uh… ah, forget it, really.”

Another surprise? “Ah, no, tell me,” Lance chirped. “I promise, whatever this is I won’t laugh.” Upon Keith’s deadpan stare, Lance shrugged. “Is it kinky?”

Keith snorted a laugh, but shook his head. “No, but… really, forget about it.”

Yeah, no, now he was hooked. Even though it was nothing kinky. “No, come on, tell me,” he whined. “Tell me, tell me, tell me,” he begged until Keith was visibly squirming in his seat.

"Lance, it's kinda dumb," Keith sighed, averting his gaze with a blush. He was obviously uncomfortable. "Can we please talk another time about that?"

Alright, that was weird. Lance had thought Keith was just bashful, but it seemed he was quite serious. Too bad for Keith that Lance didn’t know when to stop and was even more curious now.

“No, what is it?” Lance asked, starting to get serious as well. “Is it something bad? It was a surprise, no? It can’t be bad then, right?”

Keith huffed, still observing the walls. “Nothing bad, per se, it’s just… a bit embarrassing and I’m… not certain how you’ll react, so…”

Lance grabbed Keith's hand in both of his, trying to be reassuring. “Don’t worry, I won't laugh, I promise. You can tell me.”

“It’s…” Keith huffed and Lance saw how resignation settled in. “It’s more like a promise, I guess.”

“A promise?”

Keith huffed again, his free hand ruffling through his strands, mussing up his hairdo. When he turned back to Lance there was a dedicated glimmer in his eyes that raked a shiver through Lance’s entire body. He looked as if he was walking into battle and Lance didn't know what to make of that gaze.

“Uhm,” Keith started, cleared his throat and nodded. “You know, when you were in the med bay, I was pretty… lost. You were unresponsive and we didn’t know whether you'd ever wake up, and I was so scared,” he admitted, his gaze flickering to the table top for a second, only to flicker back up.

“For a few days I didn’t know if I’d ever see you again,” Keith whispered, the dedication in his eyes turning into agony. Lance tried to reassure him again, lightly rubbing his knuckles, showing him that he was  _ there. _

“I knew I shouldn't think like that,” Keith continued. “But I couldn't help and imagine a future where you… just weren’t there. Where everything was as dark and grey as it had been before you and the others pulled me out of that funk. If you wouldn’t have been so adamant on helping me with pulling Shiro out of the Garrison… we wouldn't be here and I… just  _ can’t _ … Lance, I can’t live without you,” Keith breathed in a broken whisper.

“Keith-” Lance started, but as Keith tightened his grip on his hands, Lance let him talk out whatever he needed to say.

“And that’s why I need you to make another promise and I'm going to give it to you too, if you want it.”

Lance smiled, nodding, but still waiting for whatever Keith wanted to ask of him. Little could he have prepared for what Keith pulled out from under the table. And honestly, his brain needed a few seconds too long to recognize it for what it was.

“I… know we aren’t dating for that long, but… I mean, Shiro and Adam were engaged for, like five years and nothing really happened, so… it's really more like a promise…”

“Keith,” Lance choked, but Keith interrupted him again. 

“And you don’t have to take it, of course, but I want you to know that I  _ really _ can't imagine another outcome and if there’s no way of any other future… I thought why waiting for the day we’re ‘ready’ or whatever, if I can just ask you now and maybe wait another few years for it to happen? I just want to… keep you close I guess and it may be a bit selfish to ask that of you, but it would make me really happy to show everyone that we belong together. Forever.”

Lance’s gaze had been resting on the dark velvet box with two rings resting inside. Nothing too sparkly and slim, simple silver. Two bands, engraved with something that looked like a notch if you had only one, but both placed next to the other, they formed the Voltron-V. And when Lance rose his gaze to Keith, he found certainty. A future.

Don't get him wrong, but he didn’t want to say Yes. They were only twenty (twenty-three in Keith’s case, but in Lances mind they were the same age) and marriage was something Lance definitely saw in his future, but… it was something in his  _ future _ . Like, maybe five to ten years in his future. Maybe. And Keith was the top candidate right now, but… they were  _ young _ . And dating for only a few months. Even though they knew each other’s mannerisms, they didn't… really know the other. They were barely living together and Veronica had already scolded Lance  _ that _ Keith had practically moved in with him. A marriage… it was definitely a bit early for that.

And simultaneously, a No was  _ absolutely _ impossible. He didn’t even think of refusing, because it simply was no option.

“Keith,” Lance started, not really knowing what he wanted, so he decided to be honest. “I don't know what to say?”

“Well, you don’t have to say anything,” Keith started, his gaze falling back to the table. “I just… it was a dumb idea, just forget it-” Keith had started to withdraw the box, but Lances hand shot out and grabbed his wrist to stop him from moving.

Lance... just needed to get a grip on his feelings.

“Keith, I love you,” he started, the obvious being the easiest to get out. “And it won’t ever change, like, ever. Do you hear me? And one day, I’m going to be happy marrying you and becoming one family,” his voice broke, because he just realized that a  _ family _ was everything Keith ever wanted and Lance was the one to give it to him. One day. 

“I love you,” he choked, “and we’re going to marry one day, that much I can promise you, but…”

“But you don’t want to be engaged?”

“Yet,” Lance corrected. “We’re so young,” Lance breathed, the hand that held Keith's hand travelling up to Keith’s cheek to rub gentle circles under his eyes. “And those rings are so beautiful,” Lance laughed, “You definitely have to tell me where you got them. And one day, I’m going to wear mine on my finger, declaring proudly that I’m going to marry the most handsome and most… exciting man alive. And I can’t wait for that day to happen. But it’s not today.”

“I’m sorry,” Keith apologized, but Lance shook his head. 

“You don't have to apologize for something like that. Never, do you hear me? My love,” he whispered, his other hand coming up to cup Keith’s face as his eyes closed in pain from the rejection. Lance hated to do that to him. “I’m so happy that we’re on the same page about our future.”

“I just want us to be together,” Keith whispered and a tear escaped his eyes and Lance’s heart broke. He had never seen Keith cry.

“Hey, honey,” Lance whined, his thumb brushing the tear away. “Love. Listen, we  _ are _ going to be together for all of eternity. And beyond that if you want to.”

Keith opened his eyes again, flashing him a broken smile. The smile was obviously fake, though. Lance decided not to comment on that.

“Hey, maybe we can find a compromise, okay?” Lance suggested, suddenly struck by an idea. Keith's face showed his confusion as Lance suddenly sprung up and flung his ass behind the curtain where he knew was their bed with the small compartment for personal belongings above. 

Rummaging through his knick-knack-dump, he needed a few seconds to get a grip on the little sack he was looking for. 

“I wanted to do this anyway, I was just waiting until we visited the space-mall again, but the rings are doing the same job,” he announced as he bounced back to the table, fiddling with the strings and cursing his past self of being anxious about losing them.

“Gimme them,” Lance ordered to Keith and he slid the box over. “I mean, we're not engaged yet,” he clarified as he finally got the knot undone. “But you wanted a promise, no?”

Keith nodded and watched intrigued as Lance pulled out two silver chains. Necklaces. 

“So I’m making a promise,” Lance smiled as he plucked the rings from the velvet and continued to fiddle the rings onto the necklaces with shaking fingers. “I promise to you to be engaged to you one day, and marry you one day, and adopt kids one day, and be overly mushy and wrinkly and still madly in love with you when we are old, you got me?”

As he finished, he held out the one ring on the chain, presenting it to Keith, while he kept the other one. “We’re not engaged, but we'll marry eventually. Okay?”

Keith smiled (a real one, finally) and took the ring Lance offered. “That’s everything I wanted.”

“Great,” Lance mumbled as he put the chain over his head, the ring coming to rest on his chest. He watched it merrily twinkle in the low light. He really can’t wait to wear it for real.

“Lance?” He glanced up and watched Keith put his on as well, his smile serene and overly happy as well. Keith glanced up again and his smile brightened. “Thank you.”

“You don't have to be,” Lance giggled, leaning over to peck him. “It’s a pre-engagement, okay? And I’m happy. I wouldn't have done that if I wasn’t.”

“Really?”

“Of course,” Lance chimed and moved in to kiss him one more time, but Keith already met him halfway, keeping him trapped there, both smiling into the kiss. Keith’s hand raised to his neck, his grin widening as he touched the necklace, their teeth clicking together, but Lance didn’t really mind.

And just now, excitement flooded him, the pure giddiness of a new connection, of a promise, of a view into their future.

:

“Mornin’,” Lance mumbled as he woke to Keith combing through his hair. 

Breathing a laugh, Keith ghosted a kiss on his temple, his hand coming to the back of his neck to hold him close. Lance definitely didn’t complain, nuzzling his face into Keith’s cheek with a hum.

They laid there for a few more minutes, hands roaming, caressing. Basking in the glow of… whatever yesterday happened. Pre-engagement. They were promised. That was a thing, right?

Whatever it was, it felt like something special and exclusively them, that it made his heart soar in excitement as Keith's ring brushed over Lance’s shoulder as he moved over him to suck a mark on his neck.

“Round three?” Lance mumbled, and Keith only hummed, his nose brushing Lances jaw. 

“Well, I  _ did _ tell everyone that we were sleeping in. So?”

“Uhm, wait, who did you tell what?” Lance asked, pulling away from Keith. “Did you tell them you were asking me to marry you?”

Keith hummed and shook his head. “I guessed either Shiro or Pidge’ll talk me out of it, so I just said it’s going to be a date. And when I suggested a happy ending, well, they were quite eager not to know anything else,” he chimed and made Lance laugh. “Do you… not want to tell them?”

Lance only hummed with a shrug. “I don’t mind either, I just thought it would be awkward if everyone thought you were proposing and I just downright refused.”

“You  _ did _ refuse.”

“No, I  _ postponed _ . There's a difference.”

“If you say so,” Keith hummed but neither looked, nor acted overly sad over that fact as he leaned down once again, claiming Lance’s lips as his.

:

“You okay going alone?”

Lance hummed, eyeing the door warily. He heard Allura talking inside, but Lance was stalling. 

“He’s your father,” Keith started, pulling Lance’s head to face him. “I know how you feel facing him, I went through the same with my mom. It was awkward and uncomfortable-”

“Wow, thanks for the support.”

“-  _ but _ ,” Keith talked over him, “in the end, it was worth it because I finally got some answers. And our bond strengthened. You know we’re talking every few days when she’s with the Blade. And I’m certain, once you two get the secrets out of the way, you can talk more freely and I’m sure you’ll get along quite well.”

“I know, but… getting there is hard, I guess?”

“Yeah, but he  _ is _ your father. And you said you always were good with him, no?”

“Yes,” Lance mumbled, eyeing the door again. “And you’re certain you don't want to come with me?”

“You don’t need me,” Keith smiled and kissed his temple. “And I would only intrude. You can do it.”

Whining, Lance snuck a quick kiss to Keith’s jaw and then stepped out of Keith’s arms, facing the dreaded door.

With a last glance back, he received an encouraging nod, and with the confidence of Keith having his back (even though he wasn’t in there with him) he entered with a knock.

“Hey,” he greeted as he entered, “How’re you doing?”

“Lance,” Allura chimed. She sat in a chair next to his bed, smiling joyously. 

He easily smiled back and stepped to the console next to his father's bed, pulling up the stats. “How are you feeling today?”

“Better,” Alfor hummed and switched to Altean. “I hear you’re a healer?”

Lance faltered a bit, exchanging an uncertain look with Allura. She only nodded, giddily, encouraging him to talk back to their father. She knew of his struggles, he had voiced them more than once at this point.

“Uh, yeah, I try to do my best,” he easily answered, also in Altean.

“My grandmother was a healer too,” Alfor hummed. “She’d be proud of you.”

“You think?” Lance grumbled, not really up for stories. Alfor was always reclusive, never gave up  _ any _ kind of information. The fact that he did it so willingly now that Lance looked altean himself… it kinda hurt. As if he had never been valuable enough as a human, but now that he was looking like them and speaking like them, he was worthy of information?

“Allura, would you be so kind?” Alfor continued in english and Lance saw from the corner of his eyes, how Allura leaned down to peck their father’s cheek, then stood and left the room with an encouraging and happy look on her face.

There were a few seconds of silence where Lance flicked through his father's data without reading anything. Normally, Lance’d easily fill the silence, but he had a feeling Alfor had to start this time.

“Lance,” Alfor sighed. “Could you sit down for a second?”

Closing the panel Lance sat in the vacated chair, looking at his father expectantly. His head bubbled with questions, but he guessed he had to hear what Alfor had to say. An apology seemed highly in order.

However, Alfor seemed to think differently.

“I guess I better start somewhat at the beginning. When Zarkon got corrupted with the quintessence and lead Voltron into the quintessence field - Allura told me you know about that, it affected all of us. The quintessence that corrupted Zarkon messed with my own. You know, alteans have a special connection to the quintessence and as Zarkon got pulled in by the darkness, the light and life tried to compensate and connected with the energy closest to their own. Me. 

“I found out about that shortly after I thought Zarkon to be dead and…” he sighed, glancing to the left. “I told no one. And with Zarkon dead, I thought I could find a solution for that until everyone I cared for died, but… Zarkon woke up again, pumped to the brim with the same Quintessence that flowed through my body.

“And then he started to take over colonies, coming closer to Altea every quintant. The problem got put to the back, something to be solved later. 

“Then he killed Trigel and Blaytz and Gyrgan, and I was just… desperate. I thought I could die alongside them, I put Allura and Coran in the pods and went to face Zarkon, me being the only one left to protect Altea. 

“We fought on the steps of the palace, half of the city fell in ruins during the fight, but I thought everything was worth it if I just managed to win… However, Zarkon has always been stronger than I was. He often pulled me out of tight spots with a smile on his face, I never imagined to ever have to fight him.”

Alfor trailed off, lost in the memories of his old friend. His hand wandered to his chest where Lance knew was an old and long scar across his upper body. “He managed to beat me, of course. All my magic couldn’t compete to Zarkon and Honerva’s combined might. I thought for sure that I was done for. 

“But Zarkon had other plans. He wanted me to watch as he destroyed my home. My people. He strapped me to a table where I had a front row seat as Altea exploded.”

With a sigh, he glanced back to Lance. “They kept me for a few years, astounded that I had similar readings to Honerva and Zarkon, they tried to syphon it out, but couldn’t really do it and… after some time I befriended a guard. Marmora. She helped me to flee and I was finally free. I needed years to get back to my full strength, hiding out on the planet I had hid Red on, trying to protect her whenever I would be able to. 

“But my energy attracted Zarkon, so after one or two centuries, I had to move. I went to Green then, hiding in the foliage and trying to hide her as well. I… built a routine over the next few thousand of years, going from hideout to hideout. I even went to the Castle of Lions one time, but most of my days were spent staring at Allura and Coran’s pods, debating whether I should set them free before their time came, but… I couldn’t. So I left my memories behind and walked on.

“I saw civilizations form, life being build, and governments fall… It was interesting at times, boring some others. I found friends and people that helped me. They all died eventually and once I was fed up with losing people, I moved on. 

“I was lonely. I had mourned long over Melenor, thinking she was the only one I could ever love, until your mother came around.”

Lance glanced to the side at that, torn between listening on and interrupting him with questions. 

“It was Blue’s turn, but I just came from Yellow’s hideout and I had had enough from sand and rocks, so I moved a bit more south, to the sea where I felt closer to her anyway. I haven’t been on Earth for a good thousand years and… humanity had developed so much, I was exceptionally delighted to find a civilization that could easily grow into Altea. Or similar anyway.

“And one morning I sat on the beach, watching a family joke about something, their laughter echoing around the beach, when one of them left the group, yelling. She had something under her arm that I have never seen before. Later I'd learn it was a surfboard.

“She went into the water, fearless and so full of joy and strength. I was happy to just sit there and watch her riding the waves like I used to do with Red in the stars, I nearly got a heart attack, as she fell and didn’t resurface. 

“The family hadn't noticed yet, so I was the only one able to help. I dashed into the waves and pulled her up. She was unconscious, not breathing anymore with a gigantic bruise on her temple. 

“Reviving her was easy, but what came afterwards changed my life. She was a grace on the board, but she was downright  _ beautiful _ as she opened her eyes, staring with her oh so blue eyes into my entire soul.”

“Okay, I don’t need to hear  _ that _ ,” Lance mumbled, glancing to the side. Sure, he knew the story, because his mother, if she ever talked about their father, told this story. It was heartbreakingly cute how her family had invited Alfor home as a thanks, they had been concerned about his age as they got together, but his mother always talked about him with love in her eyes and eventually, the talking ceased. Only to raised back up when he left her to live alone with one toddler and a second one on the way.

Alfor only chuckled. “Yeah, I guess this is your mother's favourite story. However, I'm certain you don't know the full extend. A few years before you were born, I picked up a signal with nearing Galra. I went to Blue for a short trip and met the Galra that crash landed on earth.”

“Krolia.”

“Yeah. We had a talk where she explained that she was part of a rebel group and stayed to protect the lion. When she had to leave again… You were already on the way and I… I decided that it would be better to not see you guys anymore to not endanger you. It broke my heart, it really did. I haven’t been around much anyway, scared that Krolia lied or… I don’t know, I feared that something would happen the second I was with you, so… I stayed away. It broke my heart, knowing that I couldn't be with you as I had been with Allura. That I couldn’t be there for your big steps.”

“But,” Lance huffed, “but you  _ were _ there. For some Christmases and the camping trip and- you  _ never _ said anything. Never explained why, never… never told us about being a freaking  _ alien _ -”

“That… I can explain that,” Alfor murmured. “It was something your mother insisted on. So I could see you and you me, just a few times, so I won’t be forgotten and hated until eternity… I spectacularly failed at that though.”

“I never hated you.”

“I know,” Alfor smiled at him. “But you were the only one. I… I wanted to take you all on the trip. It’s an important part of our culture and I… I hoped I could at least show you that much if everything else was done for. But no one wanted to join. 

“After Luis refused, I was heartbroken, I had overprepared everything and he… just didn’t want to come. Next was Veronica and even though she came… at the end of the trip I wanted to tell you all that I and therefore you weren’t really human. I did that with Veronica and she… she didn’t react well. The bit of connection I had with her broke that day and I… I didn’t think it’ll ever be the same.

“But I thought you had a right to know, so I invited Marco and Rachel too. But you were the only one to accept. And you were so happy and even from the beginning on, this trip was so different from the one with Veronica. You were so happy and our bond was stronger than ever and I…” with a sigh, he averted his gaze, tears in his eyes. His voice was getting rough from the talking, but Lance finally got some answers. 

“I chickened out,” Alfor admitted. “I didn’t want to destroy the trip so I shut my mouth. All of you were looking human anyway so I didn’t really think it’d be ever be a problem.”

He coughed a laugh then. “I could have never predicted one of you’d ever go to space, or even if, then Oriande was the  _ very _ least of my concerns, so… I thought it was good this way.”

“Well, for your information,” Lance huffed, “I would have preferred you’d tell me over Coran.”

“I can imagine.”

Silence settled again and Lance raked his brain for any answers he still wanted to get. But his brain was blank. He guessed he needed to process this gigantic bit first.

He still wanted an apology, but he didn’t know for what. Sorry for keeping you safe. Yeah, that sounded about right. 

“Just so you know,” Lance mumbled, standing up to fetch a syrup for his throat from a cabinet. “I would have preferred knowing and being with you over a bit of danger.” he said, measuring a bit into a cup and filled it up with some tea. “All of us can handle ourselves quite well. I’m not a Paladin for nothing. So we could have easily handled everything.”

He turned back to the bedside, where Alfor watched him intently. So, Lance continued. “But I understand why you did it. Keith is even more capable than I am and I fear for him every mission. I can’t even imagine children in the picture.”

He placed the cup on the bedside table. “And just so you know… it’s never too late to reconnect. They are used to aliens now and know that we all are and… it’s going to be hard and it’s definitely a bit late… but not too late, you know?

“Now drink up and try to replenish your strength. I… need to think some bit and maybe later… we could call earth and mom, okay?”

“That would be nice.”

“Good,” Lance coughed. “I’ll be… um… gone then. I’ll send Allura back in, she’s surely dying to get back, so..”

“Lance?”

He stopped halfway back to the door. 

“Thank you.”

Lance smiled and nodded, stepping out of the room with a sigh. Allura and Keith were waiting in the hallway, stopping their whispered conversation as he stepped out of the room.

“How was it?” Allura asked as he joined them. 

“Okay, I guess,” he shrugged. “Have to do a lot of thinking.”

“I understand,” she smiled and lightly patted his shoulder. “Ill be here if you want to throw a few ideas back and forth.”

“Thanks, Allura,” Lance smiled, but stepped to Keith, falling in his arms as Allura reentered their father’s room.

“Want to cuddle as you sleep?”

“Yes, please,” Lance whined, tightening his grip around Keith. “God, I just want to hide from anyone, can you, like, never let me go again?” His brain was such a mess right now, he just wanted the quiet darkness of their bed with Keith at his side.

“I don’t know, I don’t want to spend eternity with you in bed,” Keith joked and Lance huffed a laugh as well.

“Yeah, well, I think you’re the future, so who cares?”

“No, I wasn’t complaining about the you-part, it was the bed-part doofus. I think I need to use the toilet somewhen.”

Oh. Lance huffed another laugh and pushed Keith, so he stumbled backwards down the hall towards their room. And even though Lance didn't know what the future held and had no clue if he could ever have a normal father-son relationship - he was happy for now. 

With Keith at his side, Honerva gone and the most pressing answers solved… he just knew everything will get better. It could hardly get worse, no?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it! <3
> 
> I want thank you all real quick for the support, all those comments and kudos and all of you in general, because you make me so happy! It seems the fandom is in fact NOT dead, simply lying in wait for any kind of new fanwork and I seriously couldn't be happier.
> 
> I hope you all liked the story (I already received MASSIVE feedback from you guys through the comments) and are (kinda) happy with the ending? All are alive and well and that's what counts no?
> 
> Anyway, visit me on instagram (same username) for some klance-fanart ('cause I apparently have no live outside of my fandoms) and I guess I'll see you in my next story :)
> 
> Love you all!!


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